Newbie Questions Craig Area

MattP

2010-04-13 04:31:13

I'm considering buying my first troller this year and have some questions about how things are done.

I am not new to commercial fishing. I've worked a number of recent winters in Kodiak and Dutch Harbor long-lining and jigging for p-cod. Also grew up commercially fishing tuna down south. I'm familiar with both making great money in a short period of time and freezing my ass off and getting hurt only to go home broke. For the past five summers I've worked as a fishing guide in the Craig Area.I love the steady paycheck and at times the job is a lot of fun, but every time I'm dealing with four pukers who are getting angry at me for their inability to hook fish and a power-troller gracefully glides by me, my eyes glaze over with envy.

With the charter bookings way down, I'm thinking that this might be the year for me to finally start making the transition.

I am still going to run part of the summer as a guide but it looks like I will be done in early august and also will be able to get some time off around the July king opener. I'm considering buying a small fast hand-troller this year with an eye towards getting a power-troller and becoming an exclusively commercial fisherman within the next year or two.

Questions

1. Is there some where in Craig that buys salmon throughout the coho season? Also do you need to make advance arrangements with fish plants in order to sell to them?

2. What about tenders? Will most of them buy from hand trollers or do they only want to work with the big boys? Also do you need to have an advance arrangement with tenders in order to sell to them? If so what is the procedure for this?

3. Since I'm most familiar with sport gear and at times it can be very productive in tight I was considering using it part of the time. Am I correct in understanding that a hand-troller has the option of fishing with four rods and and reels rather than using the regular gear? Do you have to remove all the other gear from the boat in order to do this?

4. Does anyone know where I can find a copy of the hand-troll regulations? I looked at ADFG's site but the link I followed sent me into some state database that I could not navigate beyond the page describing the scope of the troll fishery.

I really appreciate any help you guys can give me with this. Or any other advice. I know I am not going to get rich doing this and will probably continue to go up north during the winters to finance this. It just seems to me that trollers have one of the the coolest lifestyles in commercial fishing. I'd really like to find myself living it.

Thanks,

Matt

SilverT

2010-05-01 19:17:40

MattP,

1. I can't speak to the Craig area, as I have yet to visit, however, I doubt you will have trouble selling your fish. 2. I believe the answers are sometimes, sometimes and you need to contact the land processors regarding their arrangements with the tenders, where they will be, who they will buy from and what supplies they will be packing. 3.&4. http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/region1/finfish/salmon/regs/tlgrregs.php should send you to the troll regulations, otherwise, do a search for "adfg hand troll regulations" I believe you are correct about removing some of the extra gear, specifically rods, you may have on board.

My apologies for the slow response, as I had not seen this post. Some of the people who called me in on the most kings last year were folks doing exactly what you propose to do. They are charter operators who became trollers. They warned me I would take a lot of flack from the trollers for my friendship with them, which may explain your lack of response here. Just a suspicion :D You're probably not receiving as much feedback as you would like because of the gear group to which you confessed you are a part of. Fear of persecution or being cut off from information could be the reason some folks won't reach out. Others have tasted some poor treatment from folks in the charter group and just can't quite get over it. Either way, you will be in a unique position to bridge some of those gaps if you continue with your pursuit and set your mind to the task.

I like to see charter / trollers, but I would like a sustainable limit on the number of charter licenses. Some charter folks believe they are immune from cutbacks, but as we have seen down south, charter operations are simply the last to disappear. Entire towns that were booming commercial towns in the 60's became huge charter fishing towns in the 70's, building large motels and lodges. They are relative ghost towns now. Powerful money managers, when confronted with decisions about where to cut budgets, found the fishing community in general to be the weakest and most divided adversary, easily conquered and ignored.

I hope you find that boat and use the skills you have developed to work hard to preserve the industry. Promote a culture of cooperation and responsibility and pass on what you learn like those on this site. Educate the charter fishermen you know on the history of the decline of the fishing industry on the west coast. Through understanding and cooperation, we might just be able to save trolling and charter fishing as occupations without destroying one another. Probably more opinion here than necessary, but it's where my heart is. I wish you the best success in your new venture.