I helped one of my processors offload king crab
tonight. He called today, and said we’ll offload from
10 pm to 2 am, and can you make it. I work a 10 hour
shift for my state job, and it ended at 9 pm, so I
said I’d be there.

I was the “enforcer”. My processor wanted me there at
the weighing tote to be sure no soft-shell crab were
put in the box. Soft shell crab are crab that have
recently molted, and so have little meat in their
shells. It’s pretty easy to detect when you pick up a
crab. One of the deckhands said they “triple checked”
the crab for soft shell before they put the crab in
the fish hold.

Of course, this was not so true. I found numerous
soft shell crab. The fishermen would throw them into
the tote in the hold, and I would pretend to shuffle
the crab to even out the tote load, but they knew and
I knew I was squeezing the crab legs, checking for
softshell. Many were put in the tote that I
unceremoniously tossed out and on deck as soft shell.
No one argued. It’s the game. It’s the differnece
between fisherman and fish seller. You don’t sell
your customer soft shelled crab, because he won’t be
your customer again – but your processsor? You’ll
sell him whatever you can. So goes the long term game
between fishermen and processor. Fishermen think all
processors are out to screw them. Processors know
fishermen will try to sneak in soft shell crab. Thus
the need for the enforcer.

The processor tried to hand me a pile of money for
helping him, but I refused. It’s been a long time
since I’ve been on the deck or the hold of a fishing
boat, and even though it was tied up to the dock, it
still was great – and reaffirmed my assertion that I’m
soft as hell. Used muscles tonight I forgot I had.
Just pathetic.

So, we loaded up cardboard boxes with 700 lbs or so of
crab each, and my processor had to get them to the
airport at about 2 am. Then, the crab are shipped
live to Seattle, then trucked to Vancouver, BC, and
returned to salt water revival tanks. My processor
said on his last load, only 4 crab died enroute. Crab
sure are a great “fish” to handle. You can toss them
around without worry of bruising, like salmon. And,
they will stay alive out of water for 12 hours, and
then you can return them to saltwater, and they’ll
live on. Pretty sweet.

So, it’s now 3 am here, and I”m winding down with a
toddy and late night sports talk radio. Life is
pretty good. A beautiful night – about 34 degrees
and no precipitation – perfect weather for offloading crab.

–
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

Ranger Dug and I set off for the crab pot yesterday.
First, I had to dig out the driveway up to the skiff.
This is alongside my garage, so all the snow sluffs
off into the driveway there. Also, it’s where our
plow friend pushed the snow. I got enough shoveled
out, and then tried to run through with the truck.
This took several tries, but finally I climbed the
small incline to the boat hitch. The only problem
was, every time I got up to the hitch, the truck would
slide downhill. I was by myself and could not get it
to hold there. I tried putting chocks, which I would
run over, but they slid down with the truck too. I
finally remembered the chains I bought last year just
for this purpose. I put a chain on one tire, and it
helped, but not enough. When I put the chains on the
second tire, that was the ticket.

Next came the shoveling out of the boat. Of course,
all the anchor, anchorline, and chain was frozen solid
to the floor boards, so those weren’t going anywhere.
the gas tanks and gasline were free enough, so that’s
all that mattered.

The next day, on the way to the ramp, the hitch jumped
off the ball on the highway, but luckily the safety
chains held, and so Dug and I were able to muscle the
trailer tongue back on to the hitch. I mentioned
maybe I should tighten the hitch nut, but Dug assured
me it would hold…..

We were underway from the boat launch to the cabin
with no further incidents. When we checked the crab
pot, we had 8 nice ones. We rebaited the pot, and set
it near the same spot.

We crossed over to Horse Island and pulled the skiff
out on the easy-out line, then tramped into the cabin.
Still a lot of snow on the trail, but not so much
that I lost the trail as in the past. There was some
sign of deer, so that was good after such a poor
hunting year.

We feasted on leftover deer and salad from earlier in
the week, with lots of coffee. Sleep, as always, was
as good as it gets.

Today, we left early as Dug needed to get back to do
his taxes, so his wife said. We got to the beach in a
dense fog, so sat down to wait it out.

The seagulls were bathing down below us about 100
yards, and you could hear their wings whipping in the
water. The sun broke through, and the gulls lined up
along the sandy point, and squawked in unison,
praising Mr. Sun.

When we finally could see across to Admiralty, we
headed over to see if the new bait brought any new
crab. It did not. The fog was still tight in
Stephens Passage. I didn’t think it would be too good
to have just applied for my 50 ton license, and then
be cut in two by one of the crabbers out in the pass,
fishing for tanner crab. We could hear the boats
working off and on. The skiff has no radar, lights,
or operable depth sounder, so we tied off to a mooring
buoy near Colt Island to wait for the fog to lift.

One of Dug’s hunting buddies came by in his boat. He
has a place on Colt Is, and was going to do some
diving work on some moorings. He asked if we’d seen
the orca whales pass, but we did not due to the fog.
Dug sent his condolences for his father, who just
passed away from lung cancer. The son said he’s
wished they could have got dad out for one more deer
hunt.

After they passed, we chipped more ice out from the
skiff floor, drank the last 2 beers in the bag, and
otherwise did what we could to keep busy. After about
an hour, the fog lifted enough to see, and we sped
across Stephens Passage on flat calm water. Home
welcomed us with phone call messages and chores. Boy
Howdy, it’s been too long since we’ve been out on the water.

–
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

I’ve been in class for the past 10 days in a 100 ton
Master and operator of uninspected vessel (OUPV) class
here in Juneau. The instructor is a former Coastie
and Marine Highway mate, and it’s run through the
University of Alaska, Southeast.

The class involves testing for exams regarding general
vessel deck questions, marine navigation, “rules of
the road”, and use of charts, compass and plotting.
The rules of the road is the biggest hurdle.

The test has the highest minimum passing score (90%),
and a large body of intricate information to use. For
example, what is the lighting configuration for a
power-driven vessel pushing a barge ahead on the
Mississippi River above the Huey Long Bridge at
anchor? After instruction and studying, you get to a
point where you can get an 83% or 86 every time, but
getting to the 90% was a matter of going over the
information over and over and over again until it
finally sank in by osmosis. I luckily passed on the
first try. What a relief.

I headed home early from work and slept off several
days of anxiety. You get 3 tries, and then have to
wait 3 months to try again. I can see others in the
class who haven’t passed yet with the same anxiety and
sleep deprevation I had. Not like we’re studying to
be doctors or anything, but the course has been
challenging and intense and worthwhile.

We’re in the grip of our 3rd cold stretch this year.
Although zero doesn’t sound cold – especially for
Alaska – I can tell you I’d take 25 below in Fairbanks
any day versus 10 degrees and the moist wind here on
the water howling any day. Good time to be inside in
a class, that’s for sure.

–
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

We ate dinner at our friend’s the Campbells tonight.
They feed us regularly. There were about 14 there
tonight. One a 12 year old, a high school sophomore
and freshman, two college juniors, a middle-20
something, and the rest of us.

We were to bring the hore-dervs, and so naturally
brought king salmon lox, hot smoked coho and sockeye,
canned smoked salmon dip, king crab dip, and king crab
stuffed mushrooms. Everyone, including the kids,
started taking the salmon and lox and putting it on
crackers as soon as we set it on the table, with the
king crab next. The only item anyone hesitated for
was the smoked salmon dip, which had a brownish color
from the mixings. A few asked what it was, and after
hearing, dug right in. This crew was from Juneau, and
knew it’s seafood – young to old.

Whenever I’ve taken salmon elsewhere – be it smoked
salmon or salmon off the grill – everyone is tentative
“trying it” to see if they’ll like it. Not unlike
people trying deer or elk who are used to McDonalds
hamburgers. Lox, in particular, seems to be an
acquired or inherited taste. The kids at the table
ate it up, knowing it’s best on a cracker with perhaps
some creme cheese, whereas those unfamiliar with it
may eat it alone and not like it.

I’m not sure why I noticed this tonight, but glad I
did. It’s nice to have family around when your own
family is far away.

–
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

Pulled yet another classic boner yesterday. Ron and I
went deer hunting over across from our cabin. A
northerly was blowing, and we even had a little
freezing spray crossing Stephens Passage. When we got
to the place we’d leave the boat for hunting, the wind
was blowing and we weren’t certain we could float the
boat offshore enough so as not to go dry from the
tide. We decided I’d drop off Ron on Admiralty
Island, go to our cabin on Horse Island, and come back
and get him in the afternoon.

I went back to the cabin, which was a nipply 24
degrees F. I started a fire, got some water on for
coffee, and settled in. I got an idea about 1045 am.
Low tide was at 3 pm, and Ron’s pickup time was 2 pm.
If I went over and could get the boat out about 2
hours worth of water, then I could run up to a muskeg
near the beach that only takes about 20 minutes to
reach. I’d be back at the boat at 2 pm to meet Ron,
and even if it did go dry, it wouldn’t be long till
the tide started flooding after 3 pm.

I ran over the Admiralty. I snapped on the shore line
that attaches to the anchor. You use this line to
pull back the anchor after pushing the boat offshore.
I piled up the anchor chain on the side of the boat,
put the anchor on the gunwale, and shoved the boat.
The wind soon caught it, and it was drifting off shore
10 yards, and picking up speed. At 20 yards, I
noticed the shore line wasn’t paying out. I picked up
the slack…. and it was all slack! The snap had come
off the anchor!

So, I was standing on Admiralty with my boat drifting
back to Horse Is. I immediately double-timed it to a
cabin on Admiralty to see if they had a small boat I
could carry back to get my skiff. I found only a
larger skiff, so I hustled back, got Ron, and back to
the cabin. I’m sure I walked alot further on this
hiatus than I would have hunting.

We got the skiff down to the beach, put on the oars,
and off we went. We were in a following sea, and
Ron’s was white-knuckling it a few times when the
following sea wave came right up to the top of the
gunwale. Luckily, he was in front of me so I didn’t
notice too much.

We made good time across the passage between the two
islands. About 40 minutes and 2 blisters later, we
touched the beach at Horse Island. The skiff was high
and dry by now, but safe and didn’t look like it had
been pounded by the waves.

We returned about 2 hours later to get the skiff off
the beach. The wind had died down, and the tide soon
flooded under the boat, and I poled it off the rocks
and down the beach a bit further to the anchorage,
where we pulled it to the deep with a rope-pulley
system that’s been on the beach since before we bought
the cabin 10 years ago.

The next day, we ran to return the small boat right at
high tide. The wind had switched, the skies clouded
up, the temperature was rising, and snow was on the
way. Ron pulled the skiff back to the cabin, put it
on the trailer, as I held the skiff off the beach.

We ran back to check the crab pot, and hit the
jackpot. 34 dungeness crab. Yes- that’s alotta crab.
Ron was wanting to check some of them for size,
which I assured him were legal size. The crab are so
big this year that the smaller ones look undersize,
but are actually well over the 6.5 inch carapace
minimum.

We headed back to town under calmer seas than
yesterday, with an unexpected load of crab. After so
many of these experiences, I don’t get too excited. I
knew we had shelter and could keep warm until we got
rescued, so no need to panic. When you’re feet are on
the beach, it’s not time to do something stupid that
could get you killed. Three people died almost within
sight of where we were, trying to get back to their
boat dragging anchor about a decade ago. They were
safe on shore, but risked it and tried to get to their
boat in a raft in rough seas. Like I told Ron, that’s
why I have insurance on the skiff. So, another story
for my friends to recall when I’m in need of harassment.

–
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

We have a local Salvation Army here in Juneau. They
run a thrift store and use the money earned for
projects to help the needy in town. In front of their
store are numerous signs that say “Don’t leave
Donations Here after hours”. Of course, people make a
habit of dropping off crap there after hours. Much of
it is no good, and the SA ends up paying to take it to
the dump.

I end my shift for the state job in the evening. Many
times, I’ve seen newly left crap in front. Usually,
it’s on the weekends, after people have their garage
sales. I always hoped to catch people leaving their
stuff there illegally, and on Sunday night, I finally
did. A van was off loading box after box after box of
crap and leaving it in front of the store. The van
lights were trained on the sigh that said don’t leave
donations here after hours.

I called my local police department, with the vehicle
description and license plate number, etc. The
dispatcher told me it was a civil matter between the
business and those leaving the stuff! I said so I can
go dump my crap on my neighbors lawn and they’ll have
to take me to court to get me to clean it up or remove
it? The dispatcher said she didn’t know the answer to
that question.

The next day, I wrote a letter to the editor of the
Juneau Empire and sent the same letter to our fearless
Assembly. Two days later, after the assistant police
chief had called the SA and talked with Assembly
members, he only called me after he saw my letter
published in the paper. He told me the dispatcher
“dropped the ball” and should have sent an officer.

I thought, sweet! Now we can get down to arresting
the people. The police assistant chief chuckled and
said no, the police weren’t going to do anything
because I did’t indentify what was in the boxes they
left in front of the building!

Apparently, if you report a crime here in Juneau, you
are to inventory everything the culprits are dumping
on private property, perhaps in alphabetical order and
by color. I also perhaps should have fingerprinted
them, taken a DNA swab, and a plater-or-paris mold of
their tires.

One of my assemblymen told me that there’s nothing the
police could do because I couldn’t identify what it
was they left there, and that it would be “my word
against theirs” if they denied it. He said I should
have had a photo of the scene or the stuff left
outside the store. The stuff was piled up in front of
the store – what else does someone need to do but go
over there and say, “Yup, that there’s some stuff. Is
this the stuff they left Mr. Stopha” to which I’d
reply “Yup, that’s the stuff I saw them leave”.
Pretty intense stuff, that police work.

This is the fourth incident I’ve had over the years
for which I’ve called the Juneau Police Dept., and not
one time have they responded. Once was when my truck
windows were smashed and my fire extinguisher
discharged all over the inside of my truck, with hand
prints everywhere. Twice, our house was vandalized by
students my wife had disciplined and who we knew the
kids who had done it (kids have to brag at school, and
it doesn’t take long for it to get back to my wife).
This incident makes four. My assembly man told me
that this would “probably have the effect of getting
better response out of JPD next time around”. Sorry
Charlie, four times and no response doesn’t give me
much faith in number five.

The older I get, the more I believe individuals really
can’t make a difference in government or politics. If
I’d have been on the Assembly or the Police Chief, you
can bet your life the police would have sent someone
over to investigate. But a private citizen calling in
to report a crime at a non-profit? Not gonna happen.
Always something more pressing to do than check out a
crime in progress. When you are at the scene watching
a crime happen, describing it to the police
department, and nothing happens, you realize how
futile such actions are. You either have to drive on
by, or take action yourself. And who knows if there’s
a weapon in that van, or the people might be on drugs,
or whatever – oh yeah, that’s what we pay the police for.

–
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