In Mixed Catch, NF Senior Editor Linc Bedrosian spotlights a wide range of commercial fishing-related news items from coast to coast.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Bird of Passage
A Novel
By E.K. King
Infinity Publishing, 2010
Softcover, 276 pp., $14.95
www.buybooksontheweb.com
Shark-tracking trip with scientist is the basis for an entertaining first novel
“Sharks • sex • science” scream the words on the back cover used to promote E.K. King’s first novel, “Bird of Passage.” The better description of the world young Calvin Landry stumbles into also
appears on the back cover: “Hard work, no pay, and embarrassing conditions.”
The story is based on King’s first trip tracking sharks in the Atlantic Ocean with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist Frank Carrie. As our story begins, Calvin, a local artist/auto mechanic, has spent a long night at a local watering hole, mourning his friend Dave’s untimely death.
A tough-as-nails woman named Georgette picks up a pickled Calvin at said watering hole. When Calvin reconsiders engaging in an adult sleepover with her, the now-furious Georgette boots him from the truck.
Not getting lucky is actually Calvin’s lucky break. If Georgette doesn’t kick Calvin to the curb, Woods Hole researcher Frank Carrie doesn’t roll by and offer him a lift — and eventually the chance to join his Bird of Passage crew as mechanic and ultimately harpooner on a shark-tracking trip.
Calvin battles seasickness and mechanical problems on the boat. He gains new friends among the crew, including Joni, a beguiling but complicated scientist. Calvin is smitten with Joni, but the feeling isn’t immediately mutual.
Meanwhile, Calvin becomes immersed in the routine of finding, tagging and tracking the sharks. The relentlessness of tracking
resembles fishermen’s drive to find the fish. Calvin says early in the story that he’s following his bliss. It leads him to an unlikely place, but ultimately, it proves a priceless — and entertaining — journey.
— Linc Bedrosian
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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