An Oregon-based environmental group with ties to fisheries issued a report March 15 with 16 recommendations to strengthen the resilience and prosperity of fishing communities under a new national catch share policy.
Ecotrust, with offices in Newport, Oregon, is urging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to further define and develop guidelines for implementation of community provisions within the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to be applied by all fishery management councils.
Ecotrust issued its own report, which it said was written by a national bi-partisan panel of experts, with 16 recommendations that Ecotrust said would strengthen the resilience and prosperity of fishing communities under a new catch share plan.
America’s fishing communities generate $163 billion in revenues each year and support 1.9 million jobs; yet there has been a notable lack of implementation of existing provisions for communities in the nation’s fisheries law, Ecotrust said.
The report released by Ecotrust was a 36-page document developed over the past year by a national panel on community dimensions of fisheries catch share programs. It aims to address ways that NOAA and regional fisheries councils should include communities in implementation of catch share policy.
One example is to encourage NOAA to grant initial allocations of fish quotas to community entities.
Ecotrust released the report in conjunction with a teleconference in which participants recommended that NOAA and the regional councils expand their financial tools to include public-private partnerships, loan guarantees and a dedicated loan program to help communities purchase catch shares.
The entire report is at www.ecotrust.org/fisheries.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Grant Gives Canadian Fishermen an Edge Over Their US Counterparts
The Canadian Government has awarded a $24,000 grant to the commercial fishing group, the Canadian Highly Migratory Species Foundation, (CHMSF) to develop overseas markets for its sustainably caught albacore tuna, says a recent press release from trade group Wild Pacific Albacore. South of the border, US albacore trollers struggle against a rising tide of regulations and restrictions that threaten to wipe out the century-old fishery.
“It is encouraging to see the Canadian government supporting groups who fish in a responsible, sustainable way,” says Wayne Heikkila, Executive Director of the Western Fishboat Owners Association (WFOA), which represents about 300 West coast albacore fishermen. The press release notes the non-profit has been denied similar government funding to effectively market its troll-caught albacore.
Commercial fishing in US waters is becoming more restrictive each year, despite it being one of the most sustainable and well-managed fisheries in the world. Instead of promoting their sustainable tuna to US and overseas consumers, the WFOA must use available funds to ensure compliance with Government regulations.
“We fish for the same tuna, in the same waters, using the same gear. This grant gives Canadian fishermen a real advantage in competitive overseas markets,” say Heikkila.
Canadian fishermen have made significant headway in their efforts to attract North American and international consumers through ongoing government support, the press release notes, while the US lags despite catching twice the tonnage annually.
Unlike the larger scale fisheries, the US albacore industry consists of small, family-run boats with one to three crew members. With rising fuel costs and tight profit margins, there is very little money left over for marketing.
Lorne Clayton, Executive Director of the CHMSF, explained that the AgriMarketing grant gave the Foundation its first opportunity to expand their marketing strategy to include countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Japan, China, and Dubai.
“We hope our Government will see the success of the Canadian campaign and take measures to support us by way of a similar grant. At the very least, stop reducing our international competitiveness through excessive, burdensome regulation and monitoring requirements,” says Heikkila.
In 2010 the WFOA and the CHMSF went through the expensive Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification process, allowing them to differentiate their albacore as a premium product. The MSC is considered the world’s leading labeling program for sustainable seafood. The certification is required by many leading retailers overseas, including UK retail giant Tesco.
Consumers outside North America, particularly in Europe, are more aware of the importance of choosing sustainably caught or ethically raised fish. “It’s really important for US fishermen to get a foothold in these markets to stay competitive,” says Heikkila.
“We believe the U.S. Government, through NOAA/NMFS, needs to do more to recognize the value and sustainability of local U.S. fish and fishermen before it disappears for good and the U.S. consumer can only find imported seafood in the marketplace,” says Heikkila.
“It is encouraging to see the Canadian government supporting groups who fish in a responsible, sustainable way,” says Wayne Heikkila, Executive Director of the Western Fishboat Owners Association (WFOA), which represents about 300 West coast albacore fishermen. The press release notes the non-profit has been denied similar government funding to effectively market its troll-caught albacore.
Commercial fishing in US waters is becoming more restrictive each year, despite it being one of the most sustainable and well-managed fisheries in the world. Instead of promoting their sustainable tuna to US and overseas consumers, the WFOA must use available funds to ensure compliance with Government regulations.
“We fish for the same tuna, in the same waters, using the same gear. This grant gives Canadian fishermen a real advantage in competitive overseas markets,” say Heikkila.
Canadian fishermen have made significant headway in their efforts to attract North American and international consumers through ongoing government support, the press release notes, while the US lags despite catching twice the tonnage annually.
Unlike the larger scale fisheries, the US albacore industry consists of small, family-run boats with one to three crew members. With rising fuel costs and tight profit margins, there is very little money left over for marketing.
Lorne Clayton, Executive Director of the CHMSF, explained that the AgriMarketing grant gave the Foundation its first opportunity to expand their marketing strategy to include countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Japan, China, and Dubai.
“We hope our Government will see the success of the Canadian campaign and take measures to support us by way of a similar grant. At the very least, stop reducing our international competitiveness through excessive, burdensome regulation and monitoring requirements,” says Heikkila.
In 2010 the WFOA and the CHMSF went through the expensive Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification process, allowing them to differentiate their albacore as a premium product. The MSC is considered the world’s leading labeling program for sustainable seafood. The certification is required by many leading retailers overseas, including UK retail giant Tesco.
Consumers outside North America, particularly in Europe, are more aware of the importance of choosing sustainably caught or ethically raised fish. “It’s really important for US fishermen to get a foothold in these markets to stay competitive,” says Heikkila.
“We believe the U.S. Government, through NOAA/NMFS, needs to do more to recognize the value and sustainability of local U.S. fish and fishermen before it disappears for good and the U.S. consumer can only find imported seafood in the marketplace,” says Heikkila.
NOAA: US “Turning a Corner” in Ending Overfishing
At a hearing last week in front of the Senate Commerce Committee on the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Assistant NOAA Administrator for Fisheries Eric Schwaab said that the U.S. is making good progress toward meeting the mandate to end domestic overfishing.
“We know that nearly $31 billion in sales and as many as 500,000 jobs are lost because our fisheries are not performing as well as they would if all stocks were rebuilt,” Schwaab said. “While we are turning a corner toward a brighter future for fishermen and fishing communities, many fishermen are struggling in part as a result of years of decline in fishing opportunity.”
Schwaab said that NOAA is committed to working with fishermen and communities during this period of transition.
Our nation’s fisheries have been vital to the economics and identities of our coastal communities for hundreds of years. According to the most recent estimates, US commercial and saltwater recreational fisheries support almost two million jobs and generate more than $160 billion in sales.
Schwaab talked about fishery management challenges, including improving collection, analysis, and accuracy of scientific information used to manage both recreational and commercial fisheries. He indicated that NOAA Fisheries would continue to work hard with the regional fishery management councils, fishermen and the coastal communities to increase confidence in the management system and ensure productive and efficient fisheries.
“We have turned a corner in our management of fisheries in this country, and the sacrifices made and being made by so many who rely on this industry are showing great promise,” Schwaab said. “As we end overfishing and rebuild stocks, we will increase the economic output of our fisheries, improve the economic conditions for our fishermen, and create better, more stable and sustainable jobs and opportunities in our coastal communities.”
“We know that nearly $31 billion in sales and as many as 500,000 jobs are lost because our fisheries are not performing as well as they would if all stocks were rebuilt,” Schwaab said. “While we are turning a corner toward a brighter future for fishermen and fishing communities, many fishermen are struggling in part as a result of years of decline in fishing opportunity.”
Schwaab said that NOAA is committed to working with fishermen and communities during this period of transition.
Our nation’s fisheries have been vital to the economics and identities of our coastal communities for hundreds of years. According to the most recent estimates, US commercial and saltwater recreational fisheries support almost two million jobs and generate more than $160 billion in sales.
Schwaab talked about fishery management challenges, including improving collection, analysis, and accuracy of scientific information used to manage both recreational and commercial fisheries. He indicated that NOAA Fisheries would continue to work hard with the regional fishery management councils, fishermen and the coastal communities to increase confidence in the management system and ensure productive and efficient fisheries.
“We have turned a corner in our management of fisheries in this country, and the sacrifices made and being made by so many who rely on this industry are showing great promise,” Schwaab said. “As we end overfishing and rebuild stocks, we will increase the economic output of our fisheries, improve the economic conditions for our fishermen, and create better, more stable and sustainable jobs and opportunities in our coastal communities.”
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Speaking Statistically
The classic definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting different results. Take the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for example:
A 2009 report on spending by “fishers, hunters and wildlife watchers” from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) found that commercial fisheries generate $3.8 billion a year in economic activity for the State of Washington. The report was based on Fisheries Economics of the U.S., 2006, published by the NOAA office of Science and Technology.
The 2010 WDFW report for the State of Washington, based on the same 2006 NOAA study, found the impact of commercial fishing to be $1.6 billion. Same report, same data, different results. Crazy? Perhaps. The 2009 WDFW report has now been relegated to the state archives, and branded with a disclaimer that it “may contain factual inaccuracies that do not reflect current WDFW regulations or policy.”
The discrepancy was called to our attention by a group of stakeholders, who discovered that the state had massaged the numbers, giving less importance to the commercial fishermen in favor of the “hunters and wildlife watchers.” The “new” study reduced commercial fishing’s share of the profit generation from 56 percent to 35 percent.
In December of 2008 the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife published a new report, titled “Economic Analysis of the Non-Treaty Commercial and Recreational Fisheries in Washington State”. While the new 49-page report’s findings are the basis of the State’s data going forward, it includes the following disclaimer in the first paragraph:
Although the study estimates net economic values and economic impacts of both commercial and recreational fisheries, it is not sufficiently comprehensive and the values are not estimated with adequate precision to warrant a comparative analysis of the two fisheries.
A group of concerned commercial fishermen engaged the Seattle Marine Business Coalition in support of an independent, third party scientific study, in response to the State’s inadequately estimated comparative analysis.
The result is a study by economist and former Pacific Fishery Management Council Chairman Hans Radtke, Ph.D. Radtke’s study, Washington State Commercial Fishing Industry Total Economic Contribution, was released last month. The new, independent study, determined that the State’s study “represented about 28 percent for the sum of Washington harvest value from onshore landings and the harvest value of Washington based vessel participation in other West Coast fisheries,” but left out large economic effects from other commercial fishery related activities.
Among the omissions noted by Radtke were the tribal fisheries:
“The ocean, Puget Sound, and river tribal fisheries are major contributors to Washington’s economy. Tribal commercial fisheries’ activities are tracked in the commercial fish ticket system. The data available for such tribal fisheries include: ocean non-salmon and salmon treaty allocations, inland shellfish, river salmon and steelhead, and others. Tribal harvesters depend on the same gear and other supply businesses; and, harvests enter the same processing and distribution chains as non-Indian fisheries.”
Also omitted from the State exercise were the economic effects from distant water fisheries.
“Distant water fisheries are mostly in Alaska waters and at-sea deliveries off the West Coast. This segment would also include onshore deliveries made in other West Coast states by vessels based at Washington ports.” Radtke notes many economic effects to Washington’s economy for these fisheries, including, “Skippers and crew that have residency and spend their earnings in Washington; catcher-processor products entering seafood distribution channels in Washington; provisioning and repairs purchased from Washington businesses; secondary and analog seafood processing; and cold storage occurring in Washington.” Radtke also notes the legal, financial, and administrative companies that provide services for the direct participants.
Aquaculture, including shellfish, was also omitted from the State’s study. Radtke notes that this fishing industry segment is important to include because, “economic activity in the included Washington fisheries relies upon many of the same support businesses as does aquaculture.”
Other omissions from the State report include the West Coast offshore Pacific whiting fishery, which is prosecuted by catcher vessels delivering to motherships and catcher- processor vessels, Oregon Coast catch area harvests that are southerly of the Washington–Oregon land boundary extension but delivered to Washington ports, and Alaska and other West Coast waters’ catch delivered to Washington ports.
Radtke’s study is a clear condemnation of the slipshod, albeit publicly funded, report on which Washington State is basing its economic decisions. This editor will not speculate on the motivation of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in producing and disseminating its admittedly inaccurate study. I will note, however, that Professor Radtke’s report is accurate and has been made available to any Washington State legislators who are interested in the true economic benefits to the State of Washington from the largest commercial fishing fleet in the US. The report is available to our readers for download and dissemination at www.fishermensnews.com/attachmentsPDF/RadtkeReport.pdf.
Feel free to share it with your legislator and your fellow fishermen.
Several local fishermen have approached Fishermen’s News about having the paper advocate on behalf of the industry regarding this issue. Fishermen's News has picked up the mantle of exposing the state's manipulation of scientific data to minimize fishing industry's value to the state's economy.
Several fisheries group’s representatives will be meeting at Wild Seafood Exchange (www.WildSeafoodExchange.com) to begin informal discussions with each other about presenting a cohesive industry-wide response to the Department of Fish and Wildlife's recent actions.
David Harsila, John MacDonald and Bill Gardner are rallying their constituents. We encourage those of you interested in this effort to pass on this message to your customers and colleagues in the fishing industry to alert them to next week's Wild Seafood Exchange.
Professor Radtke will discuss the economic impact of Washington State commercial fisheries, and the findings of his just-released study, at the 8th annual Wild Seafood Exchange to be presented March 9th at the Embassy Suites in Lynnwood, Washington.
Wild Seafood Exchange is produced every spring by Fishermen’s News, in partnership with Washington Sea Grant. The conference assembles independent commercial fishermen to explore harvesting, marketing and delivery of sustainably harvested wild seafood to retailers and restaurants. In recent years Wild Seafood Exchange has grown to also cover small business issues, and this year new vessel construction financing.
More information about Wild Seafood Exchange can be found on the Wild Seafood Exchange website www.WildSeafoodExchange.com, or by calling the offices of Fishermen’s News at (206) 284-8285.
A 2009 report on spending by “fishers, hunters and wildlife watchers” from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) found that commercial fisheries generate $3.8 billion a year in economic activity for the State of Washington. The report was based on Fisheries Economics of the U.S., 2006, published by the NOAA office of Science and Technology.
The 2010 WDFW report for the State of Washington, based on the same 2006 NOAA study, found the impact of commercial fishing to be $1.6 billion. Same report, same data, different results. Crazy? Perhaps. The 2009 WDFW report has now been relegated to the state archives, and branded with a disclaimer that it “may contain factual inaccuracies that do not reflect current WDFW regulations or policy.”
The discrepancy was called to our attention by a group of stakeholders, who discovered that the state had massaged the numbers, giving less importance to the commercial fishermen in favor of the “hunters and wildlife watchers.” The “new” study reduced commercial fishing’s share of the profit generation from 56 percent to 35 percent.
In December of 2008 the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife published a new report, titled “Economic Analysis of the Non-Treaty Commercial and Recreational Fisheries in Washington State”. While the new 49-page report’s findings are the basis of the State’s data going forward, it includes the following disclaimer in the first paragraph:
Although the study estimates net economic values and economic impacts of both commercial and recreational fisheries, it is not sufficiently comprehensive and the values are not estimated with adequate precision to warrant a comparative analysis of the two fisheries.
A group of concerned commercial fishermen engaged the Seattle Marine Business Coalition in support of an independent, third party scientific study, in response to the State’s inadequately estimated comparative analysis.
The result is a study by economist and former Pacific Fishery Management Council Chairman Hans Radtke, Ph.D. Radtke’s study, Washington State Commercial Fishing Industry Total Economic Contribution, was released last month. The new, independent study, determined that the State’s study “represented about 28 percent for the sum of Washington harvest value from onshore landings and the harvest value of Washington based vessel participation in other West Coast fisheries,” but left out large economic effects from other commercial fishery related activities.
Among the omissions noted by Radtke were the tribal fisheries:
“The ocean, Puget Sound, and river tribal fisheries are major contributors to Washington’s economy. Tribal commercial fisheries’ activities are tracked in the commercial fish ticket system. The data available for such tribal fisheries include: ocean non-salmon and salmon treaty allocations, inland shellfish, river salmon and steelhead, and others. Tribal harvesters depend on the same gear and other supply businesses; and, harvests enter the same processing and distribution chains as non-Indian fisheries.”
Also omitted from the State exercise were the economic effects from distant water fisheries.
“Distant water fisheries are mostly in Alaska waters and at-sea deliveries off the West Coast. This segment would also include onshore deliveries made in other West Coast states by vessels based at Washington ports.” Radtke notes many economic effects to Washington’s economy for these fisheries, including, “Skippers and crew that have residency and spend their earnings in Washington; catcher-processor products entering seafood distribution channels in Washington; provisioning and repairs purchased from Washington businesses; secondary and analog seafood processing; and cold storage occurring in Washington.” Radtke also notes the legal, financial, and administrative companies that provide services for the direct participants.
Aquaculture, including shellfish, was also omitted from the State’s study. Radtke notes that this fishing industry segment is important to include because, “economic activity in the included Washington fisheries relies upon many of the same support businesses as does aquaculture.”
Other omissions from the State report include the West Coast offshore Pacific whiting fishery, which is prosecuted by catcher vessels delivering to motherships and catcher- processor vessels, Oregon Coast catch area harvests that are southerly of the Washington–Oregon land boundary extension but delivered to Washington ports, and Alaska and other West Coast waters’ catch delivered to Washington ports.
Radtke’s study is a clear condemnation of the slipshod, albeit publicly funded, report on which Washington State is basing its economic decisions. This editor will not speculate on the motivation of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in producing and disseminating its admittedly inaccurate study. I will note, however, that Professor Radtke’s report is accurate and has been made available to any Washington State legislators who are interested in the true economic benefits to the State of Washington from the largest commercial fishing fleet in the US. The report is available to our readers for download and dissemination at www.fishermensnews.com/attachmentsPDF/RadtkeReport.pdf.
Feel free to share it with your legislator and your fellow fishermen.
Several local fishermen have approached Fishermen’s News about having the paper advocate on behalf of the industry regarding this issue. Fishermen's News has picked up the mantle of exposing the state's manipulation of scientific data to minimize fishing industry's value to the state's economy.
Several fisheries group’s representatives will be meeting at Wild Seafood Exchange (www.WildSeafoodExchange.com) to begin informal discussions with each other about presenting a cohesive industry-wide response to the Department of Fish and Wildlife's recent actions.
David Harsila, John MacDonald and Bill Gardner are rallying their constituents. We encourage those of you interested in this effort to pass on this message to your customers and colleagues in the fishing industry to alert them to next week's Wild Seafood Exchange.
Professor Radtke will discuss the economic impact of Washington State commercial fisheries, and the findings of his just-released study, at the 8th annual Wild Seafood Exchange to be presented March 9th at the Embassy Suites in Lynnwood, Washington.
Wild Seafood Exchange is produced every spring by Fishermen’s News, in partnership with Washington Sea Grant. The conference assembles independent commercial fishermen to explore harvesting, marketing and delivery of sustainably harvested wild seafood to retailers and restaurants. In recent years Wild Seafood Exchange has grown to also cover small business issues, and this year new vessel construction financing.
More information about Wild Seafood Exchange can be found on the Wild Seafood Exchange website www.WildSeafoodExchange.com, or by calling the offices of Fishermen’s News at (206) 284-8285.
Documentary Features 100-Year Old Fishing Vessel
In 1911, Pancho Villa led rebel forces during the Mexican Revolution. North of the border, John Browning introduced the Colt 45. 1911 saw the first use of aircraft as offensive weapons during the Turkish-Italian war, and the United States Navy ordered it's first airplane, the Curtiss A-1.
In 1911, Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole, the US Supreme Court dissolved Standard Oil and a first class stamp cost $.02.
In Seattle, the fishing vessel Tordenskjold slid down the ways at a little shipyard in the Scandinavian community of Ballard. Of all the events that transpired 100 years ago, the Tordenskjold is one that endures.
Remarkably, as she celebrates her centennial, she is neither relic nor museum piece. The Tordenskjold leads a small fleet of hard working commercial fishing schooners that compete head to head with modern boats on the Alaska fishing grounds.
Marvin Gjerde has owned and operated the Tordenskjold since 1979. He's still making a living with his century-old boat: You make a good living at it. “You know they're efficient boats, they're fairly inexpensive to operate. They're easily driven so you don't burn a lot of fuel,” he says.
Nobody is quite sure how many of the historic schooners are left.
“At one time, I was told there were 100 schooners in Seattle,” says Per Odegaard, owner of the Vansee. “And now, in the Seattle area that I know of, we're down to about 20. There's a few here and there, a couple in California, a few in Alaska but I don't believe there's 30 left.”
John McHenry owns the Seymour, which targets halibut and sablefish just like the Tordenskjold and her sisters. An anomaly in the clannish halibut fishery, an Irishman from Pennsylvania, McHenry has been a fisherman for 36 years. For McHenry, operating a 98-year-old boat is no hobby. “It's not really a form of nostalgia that has kept the Seymour going,” he says. “It's still a very safe, effective platform to catch our fish. At first glance it would appear as though it was a dinosaur but we'll be out with modern boats competing neck and neck and when we pull up to the fuel dock we usually win that contest.”
Anomalies like McHenry aside; halibut fishing has always been a family affair.
“The boats in the Seattle fleet here, all of them are second or third generation,” says Wade Bassi, owner of the Polaris. “It's a family run business, family orientated, small business, and it gets handed down from father to son to next son and it kind of stays in the family.”
Odegaard, who started longline fishing in 1967, describes the Vansee.
“She is an 87-foot halibut schooner, traditional wooden schooner, built out of fir, sawn fir frames, old-growth timber,” he says. “Obviously, these boats were heavily built, that's one of the reasons they lasted so long. It's very similar to a sailboat style when you see the lines of it. And the sister ship Polaris, there's a picture of them when they were built side-by-side and when you see the bottom you can really see the round kind of traditional Gloucester, East Coast sailboat lines which is what they were modeled after.”
Odegaard says it’s obvious they're very good sea boats, as they've taken weather for 90 some years. “I was in the tail end of a tropical typhoon one time in the Bering Sea and that was probably the biggest storm I've been in, we had 50-foot waves. We were loaded with about 80 some thousand pounds of halibut at the time.”
According to Bassi, The Polaris and the Vansee were literally cut from the same trees. “When they cut the ribs we got the inside part and he got the outside part so he's about a foot and a half wider than we are.”
Good trees they were, the old growth fir reaped from Pacific Northwest forests. The Tordenskjold is planked with 21/4-inch fir on frames sawn from old growth trees.
“They had really good carpenters and really, really good material to work with,” Gjerde says. “I don't know how far they had to go to get the vertical grain fir she was built with. They were probably still logging on (Seattle's) Capitol Hill in those days and it was just the finest material you could possibly use. Some of the later ones, they used bent oak frames. With boats like Tordenskjold and the Polaris, they're actually double sawn 8 x 8 frames, all vertical grain fir.”
Most of the planks and beams that you see in the boat are original, they haven't changed, says Bassi. “There are some planks on there that are close to 40 feet long,” he says. “Everything is fir on here, old growth fir, rims and planks are both fir, and the keel, everything is fir, there's no oak in her at all. I don't think you can afford to build a boat like this anymore, not only could you not get the materials, it would be so expensive to do that it wouldn't be worth it.
In significant ways, the Seymour is much the same as when it came off the ways in 1913. In other regards, it is significantly different.
The basic hull is very similar, so below the water line, the keel, the bow stem, the horn timber, the real guts of the boat, the frames, According to McHenry. As you get above the water line into the bulwarks, the wheelhouse has been changed; it's a modern aluminum wheelhouse. The masts are now aluminum. It has a modern diesel engine.
“I'm sure when those guys drug that lumber down to that boat in horse drawn wagons in 1913, they had no idea this boat would be fishing with a computer on it, all the modern navigational devices, watch alarm, satellite phones,” McHenry says.
Now, a 30-minute PBS style documentary celebrates the old schooners and their extraordinary history. Produced by John Sabella, the program is sponsored by the nearly 100-year-old organizations that represent the halibut schooners and their deckhands: the Fishing Vessel Owners Association and Deep Sea Fisherman's Union of the Pacific. The documentary premieres April 20 at Seattle's Nordic Heritage Museum (3014 NW 67th Street, Seattle). The event begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m., the screening at 7:30 and a follow up discussion with the vessel owners at 8. Tickets are priced at $10, which includes complimentary hors d'oeuvre. There will be a cash bar.
To order tickets, call (206) 789-5707 or email rsvp@nordicmuseum.org. Seating is limited to 220. To order copies of the documentary ($19.95 per copy), call John Sabella & Associates, Inc at (360) 379-1668 or follow this link: http://www.johnsabella.com/detail.lasso?title=650716
In 1911, Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole, the US Supreme Court dissolved Standard Oil and a first class stamp cost $.02.
In Seattle, the fishing vessel Tordenskjold slid down the ways at a little shipyard in the Scandinavian community of Ballard. Of all the events that transpired 100 years ago, the Tordenskjold is one that endures.
Remarkably, as she celebrates her centennial, she is neither relic nor museum piece. The Tordenskjold leads a small fleet of hard working commercial fishing schooners that compete head to head with modern boats on the Alaska fishing grounds.
Marvin Gjerde has owned and operated the Tordenskjold since 1979. He's still making a living with his century-old boat: You make a good living at it. “You know they're efficient boats, they're fairly inexpensive to operate. They're easily driven so you don't burn a lot of fuel,” he says.
Nobody is quite sure how many of the historic schooners are left.
“At one time, I was told there were 100 schooners in Seattle,” says Per Odegaard, owner of the Vansee. “And now, in the Seattle area that I know of, we're down to about 20. There's a few here and there, a couple in California, a few in Alaska but I don't believe there's 30 left.”
John McHenry owns the Seymour, which targets halibut and sablefish just like the Tordenskjold and her sisters. An anomaly in the clannish halibut fishery, an Irishman from Pennsylvania, McHenry has been a fisherman for 36 years. For McHenry, operating a 98-year-old boat is no hobby. “It's not really a form of nostalgia that has kept the Seymour going,” he says. “It's still a very safe, effective platform to catch our fish. At first glance it would appear as though it was a dinosaur but we'll be out with modern boats competing neck and neck and when we pull up to the fuel dock we usually win that contest.”
Anomalies like McHenry aside; halibut fishing has always been a family affair.
“The boats in the Seattle fleet here, all of them are second or third generation,” says Wade Bassi, owner of the Polaris. “It's a family run business, family orientated, small business, and it gets handed down from father to son to next son and it kind of stays in the family.”
Odegaard, who started longline fishing in 1967, describes the Vansee.
“She is an 87-foot halibut schooner, traditional wooden schooner, built out of fir, sawn fir frames, old-growth timber,” he says. “Obviously, these boats were heavily built, that's one of the reasons they lasted so long. It's very similar to a sailboat style when you see the lines of it. And the sister ship Polaris, there's a picture of them when they were built side-by-side and when you see the bottom you can really see the round kind of traditional Gloucester, East Coast sailboat lines which is what they were modeled after.”
Odegaard says it’s obvious they're very good sea boats, as they've taken weather for 90 some years. “I was in the tail end of a tropical typhoon one time in the Bering Sea and that was probably the biggest storm I've been in, we had 50-foot waves. We were loaded with about 80 some thousand pounds of halibut at the time.”
According to Bassi, The Polaris and the Vansee were literally cut from the same trees. “When they cut the ribs we got the inside part and he got the outside part so he's about a foot and a half wider than we are.”
Good trees they were, the old growth fir reaped from Pacific Northwest forests. The Tordenskjold is planked with 21/4-inch fir on frames sawn from old growth trees.
“They had really good carpenters and really, really good material to work with,” Gjerde says. “I don't know how far they had to go to get the vertical grain fir she was built with. They were probably still logging on (Seattle's) Capitol Hill in those days and it was just the finest material you could possibly use. Some of the later ones, they used bent oak frames. With boats like Tordenskjold and the Polaris, they're actually double sawn 8 x 8 frames, all vertical grain fir.”
Most of the planks and beams that you see in the boat are original, they haven't changed, says Bassi. “There are some planks on there that are close to 40 feet long,” he says. “Everything is fir on here, old growth fir, rims and planks are both fir, and the keel, everything is fir, there's no oak in her at all. I don't think you can afford to build a boat like this anymore, not only could you not get the materials, it would be so expensive to do that it wouldn't be worth it.
In significant ways, the Seymour is much the same as when it came off the ways in 1913. In other regards, it is significantly different.
The basic hull is very similar, so below the water line, the keel, the bow stem, the horn timber, the real guts of the boat, the frames, According to McHenry. As you get above the water line into the bulwarks, the wheelhouse has been changed; it's a modern aluminum wheelhouse. The masts are now aluminum. It has a modern diesel engine.
“I'm sure when those guys drug that lumber down to that boat in horse drawn wagons in 1913, they had no idea this boat would be fishing with a computer on it, all the modern navigational devices, watch alarm, satellite phones,” McHenry says.
Now, a 30-minute PBS style documentary celebrates the old schooners and their extraordinary history. Produced by John Sabella, the program is sponsored by the nearly 100-year-old organizations that represent the halibut schooners and their deckhands: the Fishing Vessel Owners Association and Deep Sea Fisherman's Union of the Pacific. The documentary premieres April 20 at Seattle's Nordic Heritage Museum (3014 NW 67th Street, Seattle). The event begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m., the screening at 7:30 and a follow up discussion with the vessel owners at 8. Tickets are priced at $10, which includes complimentary hors d'oeuvre. There will be a cash bar.
To order tickets, call (206) 789-5707 or email rsvp@nordicmuseum.org. Seating is limited to 220. To order copies of the documentary ($19.95 per copy), call John Sabella & Associates, Inc at (360) 379-1668 or follow this link: http://www.johnsabella.com/detail.lasso?title=650716
American Pride Seafoods Wins Awards at Alaska Symphony of Seafood 2011
American Pride Seafoods is proud to once again be recognized as a top quality supplier of Alaskan Seafood at the 2011 Symphony of Seafood. The company’s Potato Crusted Cod received the Silver medal in the foodservice category – moist and flaky white cod with real potato in a crunchy crust. New Blackened Seafood by American Pride Seafoods also took the Bronze medal in the foodservice category with its premium white fish and authentic blend of spices delivering a traditional eating experience that American Pride says is easy to prepare.
These products join the ranks of past American Pride Seafoods winners including last year’s Silver and Bronze award winners in Foodservice – Zesty Lemon Flounder and Kickin’ Buffalo Panko Sliders.
These products join the ranks of past American Pride Seafoods winners including last year’s Silver and Bronze award winners in Foodservice – Zesty Lemon Flounder and Kickin’ Buffalo Panko Sliders.
Brown, Snowe Call for Annual Fisheries Impact Reports
US Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Senate subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, this week cosponsored legislation with Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.), to ensure that fisherman and fishing communities are not subjected to unnecessary and over-broad regulations imposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Under National Standard 8 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, NOAA is currently required to release a fishing impact statement prior to the ratification of any new fisheries management plan or amendment to the existing plan. The bill Senator Snowe is supporting today, the Fishing Impact Statement Honesty (FISH) Act of 2011, S. 238, expands on that requirement by calling for those impact statements to be updated annually to better track the social and economic effect of these regulations on the fishing community. Specifically, the FISH Act requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to select an independent third party to conduct the statement analysis.
“As a longtime leader in fisheries management issues, I fought hard to get National Standard 8 into law in the mid-1990s,” says Senator Snowe. “I could not be more pleased to support Senator Scott Browns legislation to strengthen the socioeconomic impact process and require an independent third party chosen by the GAO to handle the statement analysis.”
Under National Standard 8 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, NOAA is currently required to release a fishing impact statement prior to the ratification of any new fisheries management plan or amendment to the existing plan. The bill Senator Snowe is supporting today, the Fishing Impact Statement Honesty (FISH) Act of 2011, S. 238, expands on that requirement by calling for those impact statements to be updated annually to better track the social and economic effect of these regulations on the fishing community. Specifically, the FISH Act requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to select an independent third party to conduct the statement analysis.
“As a longtime leader in fisheries management issues, I fought hard to get National Standard 8 into law in the mid-1990s,” says Senator Snowe. “I could not be more pleased to support Senator Scott Browns legislation to strengthen the socioeconomic impact process and require an independent third party chosen by the GAO to handle the statement analysis.”
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