Notes from the Fishing Grounds

Ron and I went to the cabin on Thurs, as spring is
definitely on the way. Still below freezing at night,
but we’re in the midst of a stretch of sunny skies and
starlit nights.
We had pizza topped with Elk, sauteed mushrooms and
onions for dinner. O-MY-Garage is that a good combo.
On the way back to [...]

My quasi-partner Len and I today finally got our say
in front of a legislative committee here in Juneau.
When we presented our issue, every person in the room
thought what we faced was absurd. We got verbal
support from everyone – a big processor
representative, the United Fishermen of Alaska, the
Southeast Seiners Association, and most of the
legislators on [...]

Some things you can’t make up. Last year or so, a
captain of our ferry system managed to run a ferry
full of passengers aground on a charted reef on a
calm, sunny day. This week, the union he and the
ferry crew were members of were AWARDED nearly half a
million dollars by the state because they [...]

I’ve been helping my processor offload crab. Tonight,
one of the deckhands I was helping to load the live
golden king crab into the shipping tote was telling me
stories of Bering Sea crab. How on one boat he was
on, all the captains did was smoke dope from Seattle
all the way to Dutch Harbor, and how [...]

The head of my fishing partner, along with my own
melon, hurt from pounding it against the brick wall
that is the State of Alaska DEC.
We’ve sent letters to the DEC, the governor’s office,
and our legislators asking for development of
appropriate regulations for what we’d like to do -
which dress (gut and gill) salmon at sea. Current [...]