Spokesmen Randy Crawford of Boreal Fisheries at St. Marys and Jack Schultheis of Kwik'Pak Fisheries at Emmonak said they have upgraded operations aimed at allowing crews to process salmon more efficiently.

The improvements include plant revisions to reduce fish handling and greater efficiencies in refrigeration and tendering.

"We didn't have a king season so we took that time of not harvesting fish to reorganize the entire process," Crawford said. "It was actually a lot of fun."

The renovation, which ranged from electrical to plumbing, "will allow us to survive these tough times," he said.

Local harvesters who deliver to Boreal's processing facilities in St. Mary's on the Lower Yukon are working smarter too, he said. A lot of fishermen have learned over the years to budget their money better than in the past.

"They are now used to not going deeply into debt and are spending more wisely than they did in the past," he said. "At one point a lot of them were finding very large engines and very fast boats. Now they are getting four stroke engines instead of two stroke, which increases their efficiency. A two stroke goes faster, they are lighter and cheaper to purchase initially."

Schultheis had a similar story to tell. Improvements made at that processor's facilities in Emmonak have resulted in improved unloading systems, ice capacity, refrigeration, tendering and processing capacity, he said.

"The Kwik'Pak fleet is now more efficient as far as being able to deliver more fish in a shorter amount of time," he said.

Commercial fisheries are a critical segment of the Lower Yukon economy, where the cost of fuel has risen dramatically, and private-sector jobs are hard to come by.

For Boreal fisheries, the remodeled fish plant is key to survival and keeping local residents employed.

Crawford, his wife, Edna, and local employees used the month normally reserved for the king salmon harvest to tear the whole plant apart. They used available parts to remodel and reduced operating costs by about 75 percent, he said.

"Every year we typically open June 14, but we had a whole month to rip out the wiring and the plumbing, and just redid everything. We made it cleaner, smoother, faster and tripled our speed in handling fish processing. We did it mostly for free. We used the existing equipment we had, but we rearranged it. It was a matter of reorganization. We took old aluminum (fish) totes and used them to make chutes and slides and welded them together."

That revision better positions fish moving through the plant, reducing the amount of handling needed, he said.

The company also bought a water recovery system that allowed crews to recirculate water rather than pumping in fresh.

"It all boils down to cost," Crawford said. By lowering Boreal's processing costs, the company can keep prices to buyers lower "and it's the lower price point that determines the market."

Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have said 2009 could be another tough year for the Yukon king and chum commercial fisheries. Crawford said his company "is prepared for whatever God gives us. We can't control that. All we can control is our costs.

"I just feel incredibly fortunate that we have been able to keep this business together for 35 years and that we will do it again," he said.

Boreal Fisheries is one of the few sources of non-government jobs in that area of the Lower Yukon.

One of the economic benefits of the fishing industry in Alaska is that most of the sales are from outside of the state "and all of this is new money. We are excited about having another season," he said.

Schultheis, meanwhile, is working with the Department of Fish and Game to negotiate a plan that will allow for a greater commercial chum salmon harvest that doesn't interfere with escapement of a percentage of the king salmon run to return to Canada, as required by a long-term international treaty.

Options under discussion include test fisheries and gear changes, he said.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaska

journal.com.