Are you a crab boat crewman interested in learning more on how to buy and finance Bering Sea crab quota share?
Well, here's your chance.
A workshop on the topic is planned for May 3 in Seattle's Leif Erikson Hall. Here's a flier with more details.
"We have also reserved the Fishermen's Hall in Kodiak and will have a teleconference line set up," says Edward Poulsen, executive director of the trade association Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers.
The workshop is intended to "educate crew regarding opportunities to purchase and finance crab quota share," Poulsen says. "Crew and owners are encouraged to attend."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
19 comments:
Should do wonders in increasing the price of quota and consolidating the fleet. Then the boat owners can lease it out at an even higher rate and pay LESS crewmembers. Why does it matter if the crew can buy into the fishery? It's an injustice that the brave men who have harvested this resource at great personal risk should even have to think about putting there most recent paycheck (which they need to support their families during these harsh economic times) into financing more quota for there vessels. The same goes with long-lining. Want to get on a good boat? Go get some quota, you don't have to be a good fisherman if you have quota.
Anonymous
AMEN!!!!!
Preaching to the Choir here, spread the word to the rest.
Anonymous
IFQ....Individuals Fishing Quietly
Man...I got this consolidation story I want to tell involving West coast Hake (they rationalized it) and GOA sole fishing....It's not slander if it's true, right? Might need to consult someone about liability in that department.
anon
tell the story..the truth will not be attacked. some might try to spin it.
Should I tell it here in this thread?
you can tell it here.
http://tholepin.blogspot.com/
love you little sealion...already finished writing it for you.
You think if i buy 10 pounds of king crab they'll let me fish on the time bandit!?!? It's all I can afford :(
another place to post your articles.
http://alaskacafe.blogspot.com/
Hey! that dude has cool articles on his site! There should be a list of essential fishing blogs, maybe we can just start one?
http://www.fishnet-usa.com/
http://savingseafood.org/WBSM/
http://www.blog.haulinggear.com/
http://fishnetlite.blogspot.com/
http://www.salmontrolling.com/index.php
http://ahabsjournal.typepad.com/ahabs_journal/
think beyond alaska,think beyond the west coast,think nationally.
we are all "brothers of the sea".
Ok, I agree with the brothers of the sea stuff....Let me just tell you what I don't agree with and this is directed at Mr. Enges:
I sent you a whole article ready to publish and I still haven't seen it anywhere. Guess you're just collecting people's work today? Maybe I should try again tomorrow? I don't set gear on crap and the article I sent you was very personal to me. Betray my personal trust.
Michael J O'callaghan
PART 1 As many people know the large boat fleets that fish the waters of Alaska are generally based in Washington and Oregon. This goes for the large trawlers, crab vessels, long-liners, and other miscellaneous fuel hogs that make the trip from Alaska to the lower 48 at least once a year and sometimes more. There are many reasons why large companies choose ports such as Seattle and Newport as their base of operations. Generally, it has a lot to do with superior port facilities and the availability of cheaper vessel services and labor. In some instance though, this is not the case.
One instance that I will refer to involves the GOA trawl catcher vessel fleet. This fleet is compromised of a variety of different vessels ranging from under 70ft to over 100ft. The vessels in this fleet harvest a variety of different species throughout the year and travel the Pacific coast from Oregon to St. George Island. This broad range of operations allows these vessel operators and owners to choose the opportunities to fish that will benefit them the most and bring them the most profit. That being said, some opportunities are more lucrative than others.
One great example of this is the choice to fish Shallow water(Rock Sole) and Deep water(Arrow-tooth) flatfish in Alaska during the summer season Vs. fishing Hake off the coast of Oregon and Washington. Vessel owners with permits in both locations have the choice of either. This situation is most commonly seen with boats that are home-ported in Oregon and Washington where the Hake fishery takes place.
Recently, the West Coast trawl fishery was rationalized*1. Vessels with history in the fishery going back decades were allocated their fair share of the catch. These allocations are similar in liquidity to IFQs. They can be leased and co-oped. That being said, vessel owners and operators who fish in both the GOA and West Coast trawl fisheries are now able to lease out their usual summer fishing quota on the West Coast and bring their boats (or leave them) in the GOA for the summer.
This situation has lead to more competition in the Sole fisheries. Vessels that fish year round out of ports such as Kodiak now have to compete for their bread and butter against larger boats that are freed up from the Hake fishery. These larger boats referenced were once upon a time smaller vessels. Over the course of the trawl fishery these vessels have made their owners excellent profits due to their ability to catch large volumes of fish. These owners are excellent business people and have put large portions of their earnings into improving their vessels catching ability as well as efficiency(in a lot of cases.) This increased "efficiency" has lead to greatly reduced wages for workers as well as less boats fishing as a result of Co-oping.
An example that portrays this situation excellently is that of the F/V Chellisa. Once upon a time it was a dandy 70ft salmon troller fishing off the west coast. Over the course of it's service it has been a hard fished boat by hard working men, many of whom will tell you the perils of trawling aboard a 70ft troller. The vessel owners interest, it would seem, has been a more efficient, safe, and lucrative operation. This has lead to the creation of a very modern vessel that can pack it's usual catch safely below deck. The service of this vessel at present time is the harvest of hake off the west coast. Rumor on the dock is that it's harvesting 15 million pounds of quota. Having not done enough research on the allocations, anonymous cannot tell you what the initial allocation to the vessel was, only that consolidation in these fisheries is complete.
Deuce The ability to lease quota encourages the use of less boats with larger catching capacity. These larger boats bring in more profit for the owners and processors while employing less crew for less %. Jobs that payed ~10% aboard these same vessels before they were rebuilt now pay as low as 2-4% because they are harvesting more quota. In essence, the crew aboard these vessels will earn their usual 60-100K a year while harvesting a far greater amount of fish.
Anyone who has been a fisherman on the East Coast might tell you a similar tale. Why it's not told in public more often, who knows. Maybe the little boy has been crying wolf this whole time and everyones just waiting for the wolf to come eat him so they can get along with their profit reaping.
-PS I'll find the gloves this time, Joe
Let me get this straight. When the original laws for qouta
Were being written up vessel owners such as Edward Paulsen & family made sure crew did not receive any.
Now that they have made their millions selling out to CDQ
( leaving there loyal crew behind to be pencil whipped by new accountants) they want to assist the crew to buy quota into this over inflated market. How philanthropic!
micheal ocallahan-self proclaimed trawl dog millionaire-verified catcher of goa psc species such as halibut, chinook salmon, and destroyer of tanner grounds...a blight is a blight....
Heard he's fished on a couple areas.
Post a Comment