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 unsafe they were.
How some fishermen make $120,000 as deck hands in a
week fishing crab. And how now, since IFQ fishing was
introduced thanks to our Senator Stevens, his boat
will catch crab for another IFQ holder, and the boat
now only gets 30% of the value of the catch – the IFQ
holder gets 70%.
Today, a very big fish pleaded guilty to corruption
here – the chief of staff for former governor
Murkowski, Jim Clarke. He is as big a republican as
they come in the state, and many who have waited for
the whales to see indictments – Senator Stevens, his
son Ben, and Rep. Don Young – may not have long to
wait. Clarke was a big surprise, and so perhaps more
are in store.
As we’ve been trying to address our issues with the
state, I feel hopeless of sorts, knowing how corrupt
our system is here, from our local government all the
way up to Congress. Do I really want to deal with
these people, or just let it go.
–
Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
Wild Salmon and Salmon Pet Treats
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com