In Mixed Catch, NF Senior Editor Linc Bedrosian spotlights a wide range of commercial fishing-related news items from coast to coast.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
There's an intriguing story on gear development in the upcoming March issue of NF that could help lower Gulf of Mexico shrimpers' overhead and keep their boats fishing.
The region's shrimpers have been battling a number of problems in recent years — an influx of cheap foreign product that keeps dock prices low, rampaging hurricanes, and the BP oil disaster to name just a few. However, another serious problem that's kept vessels tied to the docks is the high cost of diesel fuel.
In the March issue's Gulf/South Atlantic market report, one Apalachicola, Fla., shrimper notes that given diesel costing $3.59 per gallon, and jumbo 16-20 count heads-on shrimp only bringing $2.30 a pound, it's barely worth leaving the dock.
But a March Boats & Gear story focuses on a promising new development that could help shrimpers significantly save on fuel consumption. Fairhope, Ala., shrimper Randy Skinner has developed a radically different way of keeping shrimp nets fully open that is called the Winged Trawling System.
It's a wing-shaped device made of marine-grade aluminum that Skinner says not only spreads the net apart to its full capacity, but eliminates the drag traditional trawl doors create as they're pulled through the water. And shrimpers can run their engines at a lower rpm because the power of the boat isn't needed to keep the net spread open. As a result, fuel consumption is greatly reduced.
The Winged Trawling System offers other intriguing benefits, too, so shrimpers will find the article well-worth reading. If the system works as well for them as it has for Skinner, the region's shrimp boats may once more spend more time at sea than they do at the docks.
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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