Pollock B season

I boarded my current boat on June 23^rd and have just completed my third trip. This boat is a Pollock catcher boat at around 170 feet and had a crew of 5. We’re in the middle of B season for Pollock which is the most fished species in Alaska, and is widely purchase in the U.S. and abroad for use in everything from fast food fish sandwiches to the base for imitation crab. I’m feeling pretty spoiled with my own stateroom (with porthole), two day steams to fishing grounds, and only 4-5 hauls to sample a trip. On this vessel type fish are dumped directly from the net through holes on deck into RSW (refrigerated sea water) tanks. When filled up, we return to Dutch Harbor and offload to the massive Unisea processing plant (which owns half the island). At the plant, the fish are pumped out of the tanks onto a large conveyor belt where fish are sorted, quality tested, and weighed before entering the rest of the factory. During the offload, it’s my job to collect any salmon, halibut, or crab from the millions of Pollock rolling by. This is the most time intensive part of my observer duties on this vessel type with offloads taking between 6 and 8 hours. I might be a bit more exciting if the catch was more diverse but so far in two offloads I’ve had a combined total off around 10 fish to pull from the belt – leaving lots of time for pacing and iPod listening. After staring at the belt of flowing fish for a few hours it’s really eerie when they stop the belt for some reason and the fish appear to travel backwards. Generally, I’ll still get some time off in town as the boat works on net or other maintenance repairs. During downtime after the first trip I was finally able to hike up Bunker Hill which neighbors Unisea and is a great vantage point to see the island on a clear day. Ending the second trip we pulled into town just in time to see some of the 4^th of July parade through the binoculars and our offload ended just in time to watch the fireworks- which were quite impressive for such a small town.

"Summery" Dutch Harbor

I was excited to be heading out to Dutch Harbor because it meant that I could bring my bike with me. Having a bike in Dutch is great because it cuts the hour walk from the bunkhouse to the Unalaska side of the island at least in half. The Unalaska side of the island is where the majority of town is including the medical clinic, library, church, school and recreation center. One of the first evenings in Dutch I headed over to town, swam at the school’s Olympic sized pool, and then played a couple hours of pick up basketball in the rec. center’s gym. I met more observers who were in town and went to a bonfire with beer and smores on the beach near our bunkhouse. The next afternoon I was invited out to another observer company’s house for a frisbee game. Oh, it felt amazing to play some ultimate – it’s been too long. The field we played on was the outfield of a new softball field located in a valley beyond town tucked between still snowy mountains. With a sunny and warm afternoon it was a strange sensation to be playing in shorts and t-shirt, barefoot on lush green grass surrounded by nearby mountains’ snow fields.

Getting familiar with Anchorage Airport

Back in Anchorage I awaited my next assignment and received word that I was to fly out to St. Paul island on a Tuesday and meet up with a factory trawler that was offloading there. I met up with ~ 7 of the boats crew in the airport and we waited while to flight was delayed and then cancelled due to poor weather. After letting my contractor know about the cancellation I taxied back to the bunkhouse with all my gear. Within a minute of walking in the door I got a call from my contractor saying there was a chance that we would be sent to St. Paul on a charter that afternoon and that I needed to go back to the airport. I reconnected with the crew and camped out in the terminal the rest of the day until we found out that the charter wasn’t going to happen. Since I had been told to stay with the crew, I went with them to a nearby hotel where there company was putting them up for the night. We checked in on standby the next morning ~ 5am and were told that the next possible flight out would be at noon. With the feeling of déjà vu we sat in the same seats as the day before and listened as the flight was delayed and then cancelled. At this point, the boat wasn’t going to wait any longer, the crew members were going to be sent back to Seattle, and I was on my way back to the apartment to await new itinerary. The following day I returned to the Anchorage airport which was beginning to feel like a second home and was flown back out to Dutch Harbor.

Cordova and Kodiak - Boat 2

Friday the 13^th I was flown to Cordova to meet up with my next boat. As I boarded the plane, with ~10 other passengers, I realized that it would easily be the smallest plane on which I’ve traveled. Full capacity would’ve been maybe 20 people with single rows of seats on either side of the narrow aisle. There were no overhead compartments or separation from the cockpit. After welcoming us on board and closing the entry door the co-pilot took his seat and we departed. As the last flight of the day, we arrived at Cordova’s tiny airport as they were preparing to close. After the other passengers were whisked away by family or friends, it was just me and the one gate attendant who thankfully waited to see that I was picked up by the one cab driver coming from town 15 miles away. By late evening I made it to my boat, a ~60 ft longliner called the Allstar, met the 5 person crew and we departed. My time aboard the Allstar was short but very enjoyable. The sea conditions in the Gulf of Alaska were much calmer than what I’d experienced in the Bering Sea and a couple of mornings the water was like glass. On this type of vessel they pull up strings of hooks, head and gut the fish on deck, and pack the catch in ice below deck. Though much more challenging it was great to do all of my sampling on deck versus in the depths of a factory. The boat was targeting black cod and also had a quota for halibut, which is unique because for most vessels to which observers are assigned its retention is prohibited. One of the hauls was especially rich in halibut and as the fish were brought aboard they overflowed out of their holding bin and I soon found myself standing thigh deep in 60-70lb halibut. It was quite a sight to see that volume of halibut at one time – on the trawler I would only see the occasional halibut usually well under 10lbs. Living conditions onboard were cozy. There was a small galley where we could squeeze 5 of us for meals prepared by one of the deckhands who doubled as the cook. A couple steps from the galley were the captain’s stateroom and a motor home sized head (bathroom). Just beyond these was the wheelhouse which had only enough room for the captain. Down a ladder into to bow of the ship were the crew’s sleeping quarters consisting of stacked racks (bunks) following the curvature of the walls to their meeting point at the very front of the boat. On the fourth day, we arrived in Kodiak to offload their catch and let me off of the boat. I was fortunate to be able to visit Kodiak as very few observers employed by my company ever end up there. I spent the night in a hotel and then flew back to Anchorage the following morning.

Fairbanks Trip

I decided on a whim one afternoon to take a road trip up to Fairbanks. After picking up a rental car and purchasing some snacks I hit the road around 9 pm (though with the amount of daylight it seemed more like 3 or 4 in the afternoon). Driving through the night I pretty much had the road to myself and the darkest it got was dusk between 1-2am. It was an absolutely beautiful drive passing by vast untouched Alaskan wilderness, Denali national park and the massive silhouette of Mt. McKinley. I arrived in Fairbanks around 3am after coasting for the last 10-15 miles concerned that I was almost out of gas. I attempted to sleep in the back of my rental car for a few hours without much success, had breakfast at the local Safeway and explored town a bit. Fairbanks was larger than I anticipated and now the 2^nd largest city (surpassing Juneau) in Alaska. Just ~ 10 miles away I visited North Pole, AK themed as though Clauses actually reside there. At the Santa Claus House guests year-round can get a picture on Santa’s lap and have letters from Santa sent bearing an authentic North Pole postmark. Along with other memorabilia, the house has an entire wall covered with children’s letters to Santa from around the world.

1st Debriefing - Anchorage

Instead of going out on another boat my contractor ended up sending me back to Anchorage for debriefing. Generally conducted in Seattle, debriefing which includes a computer survey and interview, can take up to three weeks depending on the volume of observers. The Anchorage office is smaller and more laid back and I was completed with debriefing in less than 2 days. A few days after debriefing, I had a day of re-briefing (observer program updates) and then had a week off waiting for my next assignment. While I was in town I was able to meet and hang with a bunch of other observers who were in town for training or were just passing through. Anchorage had really come alive since April and tourist season was in full swing. I did a fair amount of exploring around town and was able to be much more mobile after finding a bike for $20 at a second hand store. I also ended up renting a car and taking couple day trip north to check out Fairbanks.