Hake - May / June '09

Hake was great! So... the rumors of internet and cell coverage didn't really pan out - oh well. The boat I was assigned to was freshly remodeled and making it's first trip since over a year of sitting in dry dock. Because the boat had a number of problems to work out with all of the new equipment we didn't really fish much for the first few weeks and it felt a bit like a cruise. It was by far the nicest fishing vessel I've been on. Probably the most impressive part of the boat was the state of the art wheelhouse. With a $10K-plus captain's chair (equipped with touch screen monitors on each arm rest) and ~ 15 different flat panel monitors it felt like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. The crew was quite international and at any given meal you could hear conversations in four or five different languages. Most of the top ranking officers on board were from Norway, and other crew were from across the globe including West Africa, Japan, Poland, Vietnam, Mexico, Philippines, Iceland, and Boston (Gorton's Fish representative). Sampling was very straight forward as many of the hauls were over 99% hake. In the bycatch we did have, I was able to identify a number of unique and brilliantly colored species of rockfish. It was an enjoyable 3 weeks.

Well, I'm back on land for a while now - moving to Seattle and beginning an EMT training course through the summer. This may be it for my observing career... we'll see.

Back in Wa

I made it back to Seattle mid April and took about a week to wrap up my debriefing responsibilities. After spending around a week and a half at home in Pasco, I'm now back up in Seattle for what I'm planning to be my final assignment. There was a 3-day training session this last week I attended for the Pacific Hake fishery. I'm now waiting to embark on my boat which is due to leave Seattle on the 19th. Hake is a fish with a similar appearance and similar uses to pollock - white fish filets, fish sticks, imitation crab etc. All of the fishing takes place off of the Washington and Oregon coast and the entire season is only supposed to last around 2 weeks. This will likely be the largest and nicest boat that I've been on and rumor is that each room has wireless internet and cable tv - weird.

Life at a Plant

After the frigid Sunset Bay, I had another couple days off in Dutch which included a racquetball tournament and more snowboarding. Following this short reprieve I was assigned to a processing plant in town. As an observer this is a coveted position because you remain on land and have a fairly light work load. I had the 4 pm to 4 am shift and shared an apartment at the plant with the lead plant observer. Our main duties as plant observers was to give breaks to boat observer monitoring there delivery and to sample deliveries made by boats without observers. We also had some paperwork regarding daily deliveries to complete. While most of the boats had upwards of 15 hour offloads of pollock there were a few small boats towards the end that were delivering live sablefish (also known as black cod). The first black cod delivery was quite a challenge as the other observer and I learned how to knock the fish out (so they would stop flopping around) and make the correct decapitating cut in order to best preserve product. Retrieving black cod otoliths(ear bones) was also a bit tricky because they are tiny compared to other species. I was able to finish out the last couple weeks of my contract at the plant and felt quite spoiled compared to vessel observing. In spite of catching a fever for a week, I was able to get in time at the rec center, a few hikes, and a lot of roller hockey. A young couple originally from Minnesota were my ride each Tuesday and Saturday to hockey and patiently coached me along until I felt as though I was actually a part of the game instead of just skating in circles.

Sunset Bay

I finished up my time on boat #2 just before St. Patrick's day and was able to get a few land days. There was a cold front coming through Dutch with fresh snow and I had the chance to go snowboarding with a friend who lives on the island. Amidst single digit temps (-20's w/ windshield) we hiked for about an hour up the ski hill. The final couple hundred yards of the ascent, due to the steep incline, high winds and a considerably low level of personal fitness I was reduced to a stuttering crawl. It was quite the experience. Staying as low as possible, I devised a system by which I used the edge of my board and the toe cleats of my crampons to make short bursts forward. My goal was usually to get in 10-20 steps before laying down face first in the snow for a couple minutes to catch my breath. It was tough but in the end worth the 10 minute run down the untouched snow.
I boarded my 3rd boat, the Sunset Bay the day after St. Patty's and took a short 4 day P.Cod trip. By the name of the boat I was led to believe it would be like a tropical cruise with sunbathing and mai tais. Yeah... not so much. It was probably the coldest 4 days of my life. Spray from the waves encased much of the boat in ice which had to be regularly broken off by the crew. The water on the fish in my samples that generally passes through my baskets formed an increasing layer of slush and my many layered gloved hands were perpetually numb. The captain and crew were great though - friendly and helpful - which made for (other than the weather) a good trip.

Fish in the News

Since being back in Dutch the buzz around town among fishermen and observers has been the recent attempted campaign by PETA to rename fish "sea kittens". I don't know that the push to make fish more cute and cuddly has gotten off the ground - especially not here. Evidently, local kids interviewed regarding the campaign weren't buying it noting that fish weren't really all that cute or smart. Not to worry... the fishing industry doesn't seem to be phased by the whole thing. Personally I'm kinda bummed the renaming likely won't stick - it'd be kinda entertaining (in a dark kind of way) to be able to order kitten and chips or kitten-sticks.

Boat #2 - Nearing mid-contract

Already entering mid March, I'm finishing up my time on my second boat this contract. After another couple day trip of pollock I'll be once again unattached. I'm on another small catcher boat which dumps whole fish into below deck holding tanks to be delivered to a processing plant. Since the boat is small enough it only needs observer coverage 30% of the time which is why they drop me off soon though there season will continue. It's been a great boat - just 4 crew members who get along very well and are quite laid back. The captain is friendly and we even got to play some soccer against each other during one of our offload at the town rec center. The deckhand who also doubles as a cook keeps the inside of the boat virtually spotless and gives any violators of his clean galley a good stink eye. He's actually originally from Portugal and has working as a fisherman continuously for over 40 years. With a thick accent and little English, I understand him the best when he's swearing. The first couple of trips aboard we targeted Pacific cod for which the price has unfortunately dropped by more than 50% from a year ago. P. cod are quite a bit bigger than pollock, some weighing up to 20 or 30 lbs, making sampling simpler because relatively few fish would fit into a basket. The weather has been mostly decent - there have been a few rough days but nothing to lose a meal over.
The few days that I've had in town have actually been full of activity. Over the past few weeks I've been able to play horseshoes, indoor soccer, basketball, racquetball, and even roller hockey. There are generally a handful of different observers who are up for something.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

After a refreshing extended Christmas break, I've returned to Dutch Harbor for another contract as a fisheries observer. I arrived in town on the 24th of January after a 4 day "re-briefing" in Seattle which included a fish id exam and a jump into Lake Washington (to complete an abandon ship drill). Though I was assigned to a boat right away upon arriving in Dutch we didn’t actually leave until Groundhog’s Day due to reports of poor fishing and high numbers of prohibited species (halibut and salmon) being caught by other boats. While waiting on my boat to leave, I was able to take advantage of a rare warm sunny day and hike Mt. Ballyhoo (on a rare warm, sunny day), swim at the rec. center, play some pick-up basketball, and even catch the Super Bowl. My boat’s a small (120ft) Pollock catcher boat [much like the vessel I was assigned to over the summer] with a crew of Scots and Oregonians. Our first trip went surprisingly well considering the rocky start to the season everyone is experiencing.
While I was fully anticipating rough, cold, and dark conditions so far it’s been much more calm warm, and light than I thought it would be. Daylight hours are 10am-ish to 7pm-ish, the seas have been a little stormy and most days have been warmer than it was in Seattle when I left.
I'm glad to be back to work, though missing those I was able to spend time with over the holidays. Well, better be heading back to the boat – supposed to be heading back out in the morning.