Blue on the bayou
First-time boat buyer Zed Blue learns just how hard things can get — before they get worse
By Michael Crowley
Early last fall the future was nothing but positive for Zed Blue. A deckhand on West Coast and Alaska fishing boats since he was 14, the 31-year-old was flying to Bayou La Batre, Ala., to buy his first boat.
Ray's way
I've met with Ray Riutta many times over the years. But my first meeting with him in my official capacity as editor of the magazine was at Seattle's Pacific Marine Expo in November 2010. Jerry Fraser, my predecessor as editor and the current publisher of the magazine, was introducing me in my new role and Ray was introducing the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's new communications director, Tyson Fick.
ATY NORTHEAST
No wood for this 'glass boat;
it's lobster-boat racing season
If you're looking to hire a boatbuilder to finish off your fiberglass hull, you'll sleep a lot easier if you've had dealings with the guy and seen the boats he's built. It's even better if he's built a boat for you and you were pleased with the results. With a good history, it's a lot easier to trust the builder's instincts.
ALASKA & PACIFIC SQUID
Fast and furious fishing pace marking bountiful seasons in California fishery
January sampling of the squid population points to another banner year for 2012. Ex-vessel prices started slightly stronger than last year's, and the industry will work to plug a loophole that let smaller boats keep fishing after the directed fishery closed.
Channeling danger
From U.S. Coast Guard reports
Early one cool January day, three men set out on their 29-foot gillnetter for rockfish and perch in upper Chesapeake Bay. This time of year fish frequent the warmer depths of the main shipping channels and watermen set their gillnets at the channel edges.
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.
