John Murray
2010-05-29 19:19:07
Thought I'd enter the black hole of quality of our product.Lots of idea's or not,right way,wrong way,my way or lets not piss off the high producers delivering at the plants way....
Well as any one who try's to be imformed even a little knows the Bay fish are becoming our biggest competition in the coho market.Can we keep an edge on them?Time will tell.
From what I've heard the Bay fleet is steadyily improving their quality.There are some great incentives out there,the best one more money per pound.That always catches peoples attention.
One of the things we can control is keeping our quality up and improving where possible.I've seen some real junk come up the hoist, even during the winter when you'd think folks would go the extra mile when we are being paid a decent price and usally have the time.The summer brings on new dynamics.You all know the variables....
It really doesn't take that much longer to land,process,ice or freeze in a timely manner ,a good quality product.We can't expect "the Overlord" to make us do it.But we can expect the Bristol Bay fleet to keep bringing their fish in at higher quality levels.
yak2you2
2010-05-29 22:36:32
Mr. Murray is exactly right on this one.
I am a gillnetter/troller, and I've been gillnetting for my whole life. Here's the simple facts, the days of gillnet fish being a festering heap on the end of the dock with flies buzzing around it are gone, and the margins are closing fast.
Right after the initial flood of farm fish nearly put us all out of business, it became very evident to gillnetters around the state that they were going to have to start turning out a far better product if they were going to compete, and they have been, aggressively, ever since. While we as trollers have made some changes in how we do things to improve quality, gillnetters have made much more. As painful as it may be to hear, my take on it is, we as trollers have become comfortable in our lead as quality producers, and haven't been making as many changes as the gillnet fleet has. Some of the troll fleet members still resist the types of changes that are making the difference for gillnetters.
For example, brailer bags. I don't care what anyone says, there is no comparison between fish that have been suspended in slush ice, and fish that have been packed and stacked. True, you can't hold them as long, or pack as much, but that's the point. If more trollers would make this conversion, we would end up with a better product in the end, and ultimately you'd save a lot of time and wasted energy by not having to climb down in the hold and stack them. You don't hardly see a gillnetter anymore that doesn't float their fish in some fashion. Sockeye don't suffer from the same belly burn problems that kings and coho do, and in a lot of cases where gillnet kings and coho are caught their bellies are empty anyway, so slushing them and getting them to market right away, takes away our edge of being able to gut fish on the spot.
When I'm gillnetting, I use a smaller mesh size that just catches the fish around his head to avoid body bruising, the fish never get dropped, kicked or stepped on, and as soon as their plucked from the net, they get bled and go right into the slush ice.
The troll fleet must recognize that they will be sharing more and more of their markets with gillnetters, if they don't constantly keep striving to produce a better product.
Someone once said, " every morning in Africa a Gazzelle wakes up and wonders if today will be the day he gets caught. At the same time a Lion wakes up and wonders if today is the day he gets to eat. The moral is, whether your a Lion, or a Gazzelle, you better keep runnin'."
Salty
2010-05-31 20:48:26
Case,
That is one of the best posts I have ever seen explaining what is happening with gillnet quality. Thanks!!
yak2you2
2010-05-31 21:04:54
There is another thing that gillnetters do that is making a huge difference. They get regulations changed to suit their needs, that make much needed changes to their quality, marketing, and ability to produce. Some examples, permit stacking in Bristol Bay. This allows for an individual fishermen to buy 2 permits and fish with a longer net than what he used to. In a lot of places, ( we have done this one in Yakutat), the openings that historically opened on Mondays, have been changed to Sundays to give the fish a chance to get to the markets in time for the start of the traditional work week.
It's this ability to think way outside of the box, and then getting it implemented that we as trollers are going to have to look at.
I've got a few crazy ideas.I know it would involve treaty changes and lots of wrestling, but what if we focused on catching less of our kings in one big July opener, and let our fish out in smaller, controlled segments? Or, more in the spring before any of the gillnetters get to? Or, maybe look at increasing allowable numbers of lines and quota for trollers in the winter fishery? I know, a lot of guys don't want to fish in the winter or spring, but that's when the price is there. We need to get away from the big 6 to 7 day trips, and get more into 2 to 3 day trips, but that would make take more time and commitment from the fleet, and would mean less time available to participate in other fisheries. Trollers would have to crunch the numbers and figure out if taking more time is worth the potential increase in price.
Another outside the box idea;Take a look at a chart, gillnetters get to fish the entire coast of Alaska, while trollers are all packed in the southern tip. What would happen if we fought to get trolling opened for cohos out to the southern tip of Kodiak island? We'd probably lose, but is that a good reason not to try?
The bottom line is, if you look at the total salmon caught in a calendar year in Alaska as a pie, then trollers' contribution would fit comfortably on a fork. As these other fisheries' quality improves, your going to have a tougher time getting a good price when the flood is on. So why fight it? Why not focus our efforts when there's less fish on the market?
Lastly, I think it sucks that we don't get to sell our eggs anymore. I remember when eggs used to pay for my fuel every day.