Tales from an Alaskan Commercial Fisherman!

Intro

Heyo! it's story time kids so gather 'round and listen up! We gon' have some fun!

Okay some of you may remember this last post: http://imgur.com/gallery/c43x42R if not it's cool. For the purpose of this post I will alternate between questions asked/posted by other users and my own stories, if ya'll want another post just let me know later!

NOW LET'S GET TO IT!

Question 1

Strangest catch we had was we caught a baby sea otter in the net! Don't worry this one was alive. Thing was frikkin adorable but it cried like a banshee and momma sea otter wanted it back so naturally we released it back. It was a nice boost for morale that day.

Story 1

I got this question a lot and the answer is:

No! for the upteenth time! Deadliest Catch is an over-dramatized and ridiculously scripted! No responsible skipper would let his crew fight like they do on deck, it's bad for business and doesn't help you catch any more fish so naturally any responsible skipper would put a stop to that shit immediately.

Furthermore, no responsible skipper would make his crew work with serious injuries. That's how you get sued and fined, so naturally no skipper wants to deal with that shit. Occasionally people get into fights or arguments on deck or in port, but those incidents are pretty rare anymore.

Question 2

So much of Alaska is just beautiful all the time, but My favorite place is Uganik Bay on Kodiak Island.

Case and point, this was the sunrise we could wake up to http://i.imgur.com/CvraMnH.jpg and this was our sunset http://i.imgur.com/CMlrMOD.jpg

Pretty nice office right?

Story 2

This one is a two-fer!

I was fishing on a drift net boat in Bristol Bay and some days we would go 18+ hours without sleeping, my record is less than an hour of sleep over 43 hours. So when you're on deck you try catch catnaps when ever possible. One day I was dozing off on deck while standing up and leaning on the side. My skipper (also my brother-in-law) decided to play a joke and gun the engine to startle me. Well of course if you gun the engine then the boat lurches forward. So the tow line (rope attached to the boat that pulls the net around in the water) whips up, catches me under the arms and rips me out of the boat! My fellow deckhand grabbed me by the legs so I didn't fall in the water but for a brief moment I though I was about to get very cold.

Second time (coincidentally also the same year) I was in Kodiak and we were waiting for the tender to come get our catch (a tender is a big boat that picks up fish from the fishermen). I'm standing on the bow of our holding skiff waiting and enjoying the view because it was a beautiful day out. Suddenly I hear a loud *PHOOSH* behind me. turn real quick and there's a damn Fin Whale barreling down on us! I shout "Whale!" right before the whale dives, the diving kicks up a wave that rocks the holding skiff which in turn slams my boss into the side of the skiff and launches me 3+ feet into the air! Both our skiffs are swamped and the lid to one of our bigass coolers is floating around nearby. Thankfully we were both okay and we got our lid back.

Question 3

So in order to understand this you need to see how the pay scale is determined. Deckhands are paid based on a percentage, meaning that you're paid based of how much the boat or permit make. The starting percentage varies depending on the skipper there are some common starting percentages based on what type of fishing you're doing and where in the state you're at.
I'll break down staring wages real quick:
-Bristol Bay drift boat ~ 6% (my pay 7% because I had experience elsewhere)
-Kodiak set net site ~ %10 (my pay 11% for returning for a second year)
-Dutch Harbor long liner ~ 4%-5% (My pay 7% because I did the job of multiple people)

To answer the initial question though, the most I made was $11,800 in six weeks in Bristol Bay. It was pretty awesome, and painful and tiring. But totally worth it. I also want to note that unless you're a deckhand on a crab boat, you're not likely to make a very comfortable living as a deck hand. The real money comes from having a permit, owning a boat or owning some IFQ's. Google IFQ's and commercial fishing, it'll take me too long to explain.

Story 3

So this was kinda funny. I was at the cannery telling someone a story about a hippie that asked me if I new where he could find some crank when a passerby heard me and offered to sell me some meth, for $150. I declined but the fact that it took no time at all for him to offer was hilarious to me.

Drug use in the fishing industry is pretty common. Most skippers and permit holders don't allow dope among their crew (for obvious reasons) but some skippers aren't to picky. The most common drug is of course weed but even allowing that in your crew can be dangerous. the second most common drug is speed or meth, mostly because it helps you stay awake and fish longer. If you're considering going on a boat and your skipper asks about drug use habits, that's a pretty good sign that they don't want it in their crew.

Question 4 (also lots of info)

So this is kind of involved, but for the most part, everything we catch is fit for human consumption. Some fish are mostly only used for caviar or dog food, but most of what we catch goes to food products for people to buy. Everything that we catch in monitored by the cannery and reported to the state. So anyone caught violating any laws is heavily fined or punished. Some violations are as small as a $150 fine while others are as big as jail time or confiscating the boat and permit. Too many violations can result in the individual having all future commercial fishing privileges revoked. These regulations prevent over fishing and allow sustainability of the fishery.

When it comes to deciding what/when fishing is allowed there are many factors that the state takes into consideration. Biologists will monitor the population of spawning fish, endangered waterfowl and marine mammals in the vicinity. The purpose of all this regulation is the sustainability of the fisheries and the surrounding environment. If either factor becomes too endangered the fishery is shut down until the populations rebound.