pre season #2

Heading out on tonight’s flood for the first fishery. The period begins at 11am tomorrow and it’s about a 6.5 hour opening. Should be good to get out and get the gear wet. I don’t know if we’ll stay out or if we’ll come back to the dock, but this could be the beginning of another season where we’re on board 20 or 25 days straight pushing, pushing, pushing.

For fifty years now my father has been surrounded by other incredible men who have made a living out of this fishery. Alaska Natives, Italians, Croatians, other Norwegians, Finns, and Washingtonians and Oregonians alike – there is a family up here bonded together by the glue of all the serious…shit…for lack of a better term that these guys and their fathers have seen over the years. Strikes so serious guns were being pulled on the scabs who fished anyway, and mafia members were being called up from California to “take care” of those scabs and their boats. (Not a joke. When logistics were realized, i.e. federal marshals were present and there was only one road/airport to get out, they decided against coming.) Weather so serious that sitting in Togiak in a 120mph blow for five days on anchor was just what you had to do before it calmed down enough to fish. Mechanical problems at the most vulnerable times on the Bering Sea. The worst prices for your fish…and the best prices for your fish. Heated disagreements between fellow fishermen and cannery personnel paired with some of the greatest nights in camp reminiscing with the old timers and newcomers alike about a part of the world that is so perfectly rough around the edges. And in the end, when every skipper and crewmember flies up and congregates before the season hits in the bunkhouse, one finds himself amongst fellow men who appreciate one another, appreciate Mother Nature, the forces of the fishery, and are simply out to keep pursuing this ridiculous passion and make a buck or two.

The past couple nights we’ve been eating razor clams, the first salmon of the year, and other good food that everyone has to contribute. The bunkhouse is a dorm-style residence. We are on the second floor of number 93. There is a bank of washers and dryers at the end of the hall with a common bathroom/shower room. On any given night when we’re not fishing you can find crock pots and rice cookers atop the washing machine and explosions of laughter careening off the walls of the hallway. Two or three of the small rooms are occupied by everyone drinking cheap beer, maybe eating a little pickled salmon, giving each other plenty of hell, and celebrating…simplicity…here. Last night Rock Haglund and Mikey and Cole Johnson of the F/V Alaskalou were set to be launched at midnight with the tide and take off for the Egegik fishing district for most of the season. It was naturally a good send off for them with aching bellies from all the laughter by the end of the night.

During the day, projects have been wrapping up and everyone is ready to go to work. “Mug-up” is a coffee and donut break for all cannery crew and beach gang at 10am, 3pm, and 9pm every day, and fishermen undoubtedly partake when not out fishing. So there’s been plenty of “mug-up” attendance and milling around with the guys and gals who will also be putting in ‘round the clock hours here on the beach once the season really hits. It definitely is not all about just fishing; rather, it’s also about the delivery and processing of the product and maintenance of the fleet and equipment which have to be tended to 24/7, on a moment’s notice.

Reidar’s conclusive words for this entry and this point in the season:

“A lot of attention is being paid to the test fisheries farther down the Aleutian Chain near Port Moller right now. Whereas not many fish were showing originally, these stations which range anywhere from 20 miles offshore to 100 miles offshore are now indicating a strong push of fish bound for our river systems here in the Bay. The numbers are shaping up to mean a season that everyone has been hoping for and anticipating.”

“It will be good tonight to get out, anchor up, and see how everything works tomorrow.”

Talk to y’all when possible.