The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is known for aggressive skippers willing to grind hulls in pursuit of a big and rich haul.
But we won't see any combat this year.
That's because the fishery's 48 seine permit holders have notified the state that they have agreed to a "cooperative/equal split fishery."
This means the industry will harvest the herring using far fewer boats, splitting expenses and profits.
The co-op also is seen as something of a peace offering to Native subsistence interests at Sitka, who have long fought to restrict or eliminate the commercial harvest.
The herring fishery is expected to get underway later this month.
The state has issued guidelines and expectations for the cooperative fishery.
We've seen the Sitka herring fleet go co-op before, for various reasons.
The entire 2015 season ran as a co-op, and the fleet formed a co-op at the end of last season as a means of cleaning up the small amount of quota that remained.
If the fleet can do this why cant they take on a few more permits? What if 75 permit holders instead of the 48 did a coop and 4-5 boats caught the quota and most guys didn't even show up? Wouldn't everybody turn a profit?
ReplyDeleteThis fishery is ripe for a buyback. Send the permit holders home with their cash. Leave the herring for a modest subsistence use and to feed salmon, birds, and all the other creatures that depended on them a few thousand years before the sac roe fishery started 40 years ago.
ReplyDeleteJapanese sushi bars and stock holders of fish plants will suffer - but will anyone else?
I'm not being sarcastic here. Why pound the crap out of a resource so 48 permit holder can cut a fat hog??
Just like the halibut and black cod initial issuance guys. They can sit at the dock or Hawaii and collect a check into there Twilight years. Also not that I care but how is it a peace offering to the tribes when they are catching all the allotted quota?
ReplyDeleteI think it's more of a peace offering to their insurance companies.
ReplyDeleteresource grab by silver bay. pure and simple.
ReplyDeleteWell if 8 boats do the Co-op that leaves 40 boats that won't need crew. Skippers will pocket more $$$$ and put 160+ crew trying to feed their family's out of work. No insurance payment, no grub or fuel bills. Tendermen are screwed also. Yee-haa
ReplyDelete4:19 AM- Exactly as he states. Silver Bay will control the market share of herring now. With almost half the permits fishing for them the "price" dictated to permit holders really falls in their hands. As they can hold out for a better price in Japan or dump it on the market to get it out of inventory. If they go with the dump method I am sure all those people who agreed to a co-op will get shit for price for their 223 tons alloted to them.
ReplyDelete2 coops in 4 years. Wonder how long these dingbats will get away with it. Bye bye crew. Bye bye tenders. Money for nothing and vacation to Hawaii for free.
ReplyDeleteHolding hands? More like a circle jerk. All the permit owners had to agree to it for it to fly. Sitka permit owners are Communist - Liberals living in a welfare state. You don't get to claim that you are a Libertarian any more! Ya you know who I am talking about. It's Un-American. Alaska's common property resources, maximum benefit for the minimum few.
ReplyDeleteWith all the displaced workers and local businesses being affected by these illegal coops, can anyone take legal action besides the permit holders? The precedent was established year's ago with the Chignik coop.
ReplyDeleteIt's a legal fishery
ReplyDeleteOnly take's one lawsuit to make it illegal. Grunert v. State set precedent.
ReplyDeleteCommon law doesn't apply to Troy/Sitka.
ReplyDeleteThe Optimum Number of permit in this fishery is 5.
ReplyDeleteBuy your way in for $300K. Factor the return on your investment. You don't even have to be a real fishermen. But you will do better then the stock market and you don't even have to show up. If I was a dentist in Omaha I'd be looking hard at these permits for my retirement income.
What's the price this year?
ReplyDeleteThe price is what ever Silver Bay wants it to be. They get half the quota with no competition.
ReplyDeleteThe Sitka sac roe fishery is going to go away, all because of the greed by the permit holders, and the arrogant local processor SBS.
ReplyDeleteBy using other excuses, lies about co-op reasoning, everyone watching sees the deceit and mis-information.
If you eliminate crews and others, from access to income, why won’t those crews turn on permit holders, by posting all the bad information
About the fishery? Waste of bio-mass, want and waste, whales rolled up in seines, and posting accounting of crews settlements.
There are so many photos out there, that could but a stop to this fishery forever.
This could get very ugly.
Do you Have any phots of whales caught in seiners nets, in the Sitka herring fishery? I do.
ReplyDeletelets go fishing today.
ReplyDelete