All in the family
Family is the heart and soul of many American fishing businesses. In working waterfront towns across the country, that family often extends to include the larger community of commercial fishing fleets. What develops is a network that expands to create a safety net and often new opportunities for the fleets and their shore-based counterparts.
The same can certainly be said of a small group of Danish fishing families who saw their way of life being threatened by the onslaught of individual transferable quotas in 2006. As longtime National Fisherman contributor and author of several books on the fishing and seafood industries Paul Molyneaux explores in his story on page 20, the flyshooting fleet of Thorupstrand saw their livelihoods being pulled away by the strong tide of politicized market forces, toward consolidated fleets. Determined not to stick their heads in the sand, this fleet of beach-based seiners and gillnetters formed a quota cooperative to increase their buying power, which has assured the next generation, the so-called "gold of Thorupstrand" their place on the water.
Though closer to home than Denmark, the Great Lakes is often far from many American fishermen's ports and minds. There on Lake Michigan the third and fourth generations of Petersen Fisheries set trap nets for Great Lakes whitefish. Michigan writer Dan Denov has gotten to know the Petersen family on a couple of outings aboard the family-built Petersen Brothers, a 52-foot steel trap net boat that plies the waters of Lake Michigan from the family's dock on nearby Lake Muskegon. Their story begins on page 24.
NF Assistant Editor Melissa Wood took a trip down to Gloucester, Mass., for the opening of the Giacalone family's off-loading facility, a partnership with the founders of the Boston Seafood Display Auction. All four Giacalone boys are working in the auction house, owned by their father, NF Highliner, Gloucester trawling skipper and industry advocate Vito Giacalone Sr. Melissa's story begins on page 26.
A family of another kind can be found far to the north in Atlantic Canada's Prince Edward Island, where the wider community of local wooden boatbuilders shares a history with fishermen on both sides of the border. Boats & Gear Editor Michael Crowley explores the last 100 years of Canadian boatbuilding traditions and how designs were shaped by the needs of inshore fishermen (page 28).
It's not often we have the opportunity to investigate outside of our normal scope of U.S. fishing. But whenever we do, we discover the vast breadth of knowledge that comes from knowing fishermen around the world as well as in our backyard.
-Jessica Hathaway
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.
National Fisherman has been the industry standard for over 50 years. Readers from coast to coast depend on it to stay up to date on news, regulations, fish stocks, to research purchasing decisions and to stay informed of the newest vessel and product technology.
