National Fisherman

Paul Molyneaux

Editor

Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman.

Author Archive

The Bristol Bay sockeye season is short and intense; aboard a Northline boat, a four-man crew picks fish and does all it can to preserve quality, bleeding and chilling fish in RSW tanks. Photo courtesy of Asher Molyneaux

Getting wild salmon onto the plate

The 282-foot pelagic trawler Borkur, from Iceland, sporting a pair of Twister doors. Vonin is receiving positive feedback from all the European skippers using the Twister. Now the company wants to bring it to the US market. Vonin photo.

The Vonin Twister

The Alaska Ocean Observation Systems works with subsistence fishermen and Alaska Natives by collecting data for projects such as the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO). AOOS photo.

AOOS: Home of Alaska ocean data

The F/V Element at the dock in Homer, Alaska, ready to make the trip across Cook Inlet to Westport, from there by land to Lake Iliamna and then down the Kvichak River to Bristol Bay just in time for the sockeye salmon season.

Boat of the Month: Element

Marc Vance’s book, The commercial Fishermen, is a brag, a confession and minutely detailed examination of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery from 1980 to 2023. Photo courtresy of Marc Vance

Book review: The Commercial Fishermen by Marc Vance

Powered by a Cummins 8.9-liter engine and an AWT JT342 jet, Wadsworth’s amphibious skiff can reach a top speed of 30 knots and is equipped with bunks and a small galley. Photo courtesy of Ray Wadsworth

Keeping up with Ray Wadsworth

Beginning in March, net hangers at Alaska Net & Supply work 12-hour-plus days to hang web for the drifters and setnetters who believe that Tairyo web is superior to other brands. Photo courtesy of Alaska Net & Supply

Inside the Dillingham net shop keeping Bristol Bay fishermen fishing

Brian and Lisa Gabriel hope the new administrative district will improve management of their setnet fishery. Photo courtesy of Lisa Gabriel

Sorting out the new administrative district in Cook Inlet

Seiners are still waiting for the pinks to show in Prince William Sound. Some surges have buoyed hopes, but people involved report that skippers and boat owners are already talking about the possibility of disaster relief. Photo courtesy of Henry Bell

Pink salmon surge offers late hope for Prince William Sound seiners

The deep sea mining research vessel M/V Anuanua was in Hawaii on August 5. The 196-foot Cook Islands-flagged vessel. Conducts research all for various countries all around the Pacific. Photo courtesy of IdiotSavant

Deep sea mining in the Gulf of Alaska