KODIAK - "It's the end of an era," said Peter Liske, skipper of the F/V Lady Alaska, in response to the passage last month of the Bering Sea crab plan by the U.S. Senate. "It will be a totally different fishery and everyone will have to readjust," he added via satellite phone as he steamed home from the fishing grounds shortly after the closure of the snow crab season.
As with most crabbers, the fact that the new management plan will dictate where he must sell his catch is what Liske really dislikes. Ninety percent of all king and Tanner crab harvests will go to select processors who, along with fishermen and communities, will be given shares of the catch based on their historical participation in the Bering Sea crab fisheries.
"I can't sell where I want to? It's a total violation of the American spirit and free enterprise. It's totally illegal. It's immoral. It's against the principles of God. It's just wrong," Liske lamented. He added that he believes there will be many complications when the new plan goes into effect, which could be as soon as next year. "How are they going to track all of this crab and where it goes and who gets it? What happens if St. Paul freezes up and we can't deliver our crab there? All of us should be able to sell to whoever we want," he said.
Tom Gibson agreed. "It's going to be a big change. I'm not happy with the processor share part of the program and I think it was wrong to put that in there. But I'm a harvester and that's the way most of us feel," he said from the wheelhouse of the F/V Kodiak.
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
Ditto John Lund of the Lady Aleutian: "I have really strong feelings and I don't want to put them over the dispatch. What it boils down to is I think it's a crime. But it's a done deal and fishing's over with as far as I'm concerned. Might as well drive around and do a regular job now," he said.
"Why turn a public resource into a commodity for the few," said Julio Olmos, skipper of the F/V Constellation in a previous interview from the fishing grounds. "From my calculations, a fleet of 220 will drop to around 100, maybe less. That's 120 skippers that won't have jobs and upwards of a thousand deckhands that won't have jobs. Most of these guys have done nothing but fish all their lives, and they don't know anything else. What do they do?" he said.
Roger Strong, skipper of the F/V Saga had a different view. "I'm for crab rationalization. I think it helps with managing the resource," he said.
All of the crabbers said they don't believe the new crab plan will actually be implemented for another year or two.
On another note: The crabbers said fishing was good and the crabs were pretty evenly distributed so "everyone got a few." It got cold for awhile and "all of us were chipping ice for about three days." The average snow crab weight was 1.3 pounds or better and most said the crab looked "fantastic." Lund said it was "some of the nicest snow crab I've ever seen," and "I think there is more available than the survey reflects."
The Bering Sea snow crab fishery will yield a harvest of roughly 20 million pounds, caught by a fleet of 192 boats. At an average price of $2.05/lb, the catch will be worth more than $40 million at the docks. The fishery ended Jan. 23, lasting just eight and a half days.
View from Japan
Since most of Alaska's seafood goes to Japan, it's interesting to get an insider's perspective on market trends in that country. Market analyst Bill Atkinson provided this in a recent newsletter (Bill Atkinson's News Report):
"While the year-end market remains extremely important for the makers of a large number of seafood products, the playing field has changed dramatically over the past several years. The New Year's holiday in Japan used to consist of three days of pure quiet. With the exception of a few coffee shops near stations and shrines, where a cup of coffee could cost upwards of $7.55-$9.43 with no refills, all stores were closed.
"This was combined with the tradition that housewives were not supposed to cook during the period. This resulted in the need to purchase various food items early enough for the year-end foods to be prepared.
"This all changed several years ago, first with the proliferation of Seven-Eleven and other convenience stores in Japan. These markets remained open 365 days of the year, and this forced many of the supermarkets and discount stores to also to remain open during the New Year's holiday.
"The net result of these changes was the elimination of the mid-December sales rush. This has made it more difficult for the makers, as well as the market brokers, to project the market needs.
Kodiak-based free-lance writer Laine Welch can be reached via e-mail at msfish@alaska.com.
