Once and Future
2011-10-16 15:20:27
I see by some other topics that guys are indeed augmenting their sales with pinks taken as bycatch when targeting cohos. So my fundamental dumb questions of the month are the following: Do you have a buyer that will take them in the round, or are you cleaning fish you get a buck and a half for? Presuming you are selling them in the round; do you keep them in a separate slush tank from Kings and cohos? I don't like the idea of round fish leaching their bodily fluids into the same slush the premium fish are being held in.
I know some remote buyers won't buy round fish as they can't get them to a processor fast enough. I wish I could be choosy about which fish I sold - like the old timers. But in this age I can't afford to miss a chance to improve my slim margin.
salmontroll
2011-10-17 03:12:15
there's no reason plants shouldn't buy round pinks from trollers if the fish are in good condition.. good question, the seine fleet may have had they're most profitable season ever in SE I think. many grossing well over 1 million dollars
Salty
2011-10-17 03:52:35
Some of us have arranged round troll pink markets since about 1989. It is critical to immediately, 5-10 minutes at the most, chill the round pinks and deliver them within 36 hours. It is absolutely necessary to have separate tanks for dressed salmon and round. Usually important to have separate bags for chums and pinks. I have 6 separate tanks. I believe for production high quality dressed and round product that is about the minimum. We nearly lost our round pink market in Icy Straits this year Because so many Trollers who were not adequately equipped or informed attempted to deliver round and dressed salmon, sometimes all in the same bag or same hold.
Salty
2011-10-17 03:58:22
Chum Trollers Assocoation Board approved a round pink handling guidelines sheet on the grounds last June. I am going to recommend to the CTA board next week that those guidelines be posted along with our chum handling guidelines already posted on here in the Chum Trolling thread.
kalitan97828
2011-10-17 04:58:38
Right on Salty. A number of boats targeted pinks all summer in Icy Straits and did very well. There was also a buyer in Cross Sound. I think the coop board and management has to come to its senses and get a market for high quality pinks and then service the fleet with tenders. What about cohoes in the round? However they may belly burn to rapidly to be a viable round delivery prospect.
Salty
2011-10-17 17:08:30
I have delivered some round silvers over the years. No belly burns. The problem is "processing crew shock". In my view three developments have made dressing coho unnecessary for a good % of the troll fleet.
1. The development of slush and RSW chilling systems so Trollers can immediately chill and hold the coho.
2. Dailey tender service for round pinks and chums.
3. Cheap labor and high tech processing equipment at the fish plants.
Abundance
2011-10-22 05:25:26
When I was in Ketchikan this fall the tender was buying round cohos and chums, but not round pinks. Maybe it was just because I was being overcautious, if there is such a thing, but I think that there was an actual improvement in quality. I shoved those creatures under the ice as soon as the blood stopped pumping. Fooling around with cleaning takes a lot of time when you fish alone, and there have been times where I had no choice but wait hours before I could catch up with the fish on deck. I always accepted that as being part of the business. And it still will be the only way in remote areas far from processors and tenders, but I see no reason why that couldn't be the standard in regions with easy access to facilities. After years of exhaustingly layer icing in fifteen foot seas on the ocean, trying desperately to clean fish as fast as i can while the lines fill up with cohos, this sure seems to be the better way. I hope Ketchikan takes round pinks and cohos again next year.