Wash. boatshop closing up after 44 years; boatyard specializes in aluminum crabbers
Published onAfter 44 years of building, repairing, finishing off and outfitting commercial fishing boats, Petrzelka Brothers (Joel, Jon and Paul) in Mt. Vernon, Wash., has completed its last commercial fishing boat. The only boat left in the shop is a pleasure boat that will be completed by the end of the year. And when thats gone, the doors will be shut for good. That last fishing boat was the Thunder, a 32' x 19' Bristol Bay gillnetter built by Madden Metal Works in Bellingham, Wash. The Thunder has a pair of 800-hp MAN diesels matched up with two Thrustmaster jets, a Pacific West RSW system, and it packs more than 20,000 pounds. Petrzelka Brothers did some outfitting and interior work to finish her off, but not a lot. The interior was sparse. He wanted to keep it light, so it would go fast. She did around 35 knots, says ...
Read More
PVC is the choice material for one Virginia builder; new version of a classic Chesapeake style
Published onEric Hedberg of Rionholdt Once and Future Boats of Gywnns, Va., swears by PVC sheets and planks as a viable substitute to wood in boatbuilding and for maintenance of wood boats. The Chesapeake Bays wooden boat commercial fishing fleet is aging, and quality boatbuilding wood is getting harder to find. Hedberg has persuaded some bay watermen to try PVC as a substitute to wood. He has built several 20-foot and over deadrise-style boats out of PVC sheets and planks. You can bury a boat made from PVC in the ground and dig it up 20 years later, and it would be as good as new, says Hedberg. PVC takes the issues of moisture and wood rot in wooden boats off the table. Hedberg says the material is also good for repair of older wooden boats. He recently installed a waist made from PVC sheets on the deck boat ...
Read More
Boat of the Month: Vansee
Published onThe Mexican Revolution, suffragettes, Woodrow Wilsons inauguration: Those were the topics making news when the F/V Vansee starting fishing for halibut in Alaska. When current skipper Shawn McManus and crew left the Gulf of Alaska headed for Bellingham, Wash., in early September of this year, it marked the 108th straight season for the 87-foot schooner, which also fishes blackcod now. Built by John Strand out of a single Douglas fir in Seattles Ballard neighborhood, the Vansee was finished in 1913. It once toted six dories that were sent out with longlines, but the dangerous dory fishing was banned in the 1930s. Hauling gear was installed, and other than the recent blackcod slinky pot revolution and a bunch of new electronics, not a whole lot has changed in what McManus calls something of floating museum. Current owner Per Odegaard retired from skippering 10 years ago but still runs the ...
Read More
Alaska Pollock: With strong global demand, U.S. production ramped up in 2021
Published onAlaskas pollock fleet enjoyed increased production as bottlenecks in delivering, processing, shipping and distributing opened up earlier this year. However, besides competition from surimi made elsewhere in the world, consumer demand for other pollock products will determine production in the coming year. Like many other industries in the United States, the labor component hobbled nearly every facet of the industry. By the third quarter of this year, latent labor shortages still lingered, but the production of surimi appeared to be gaining. Pollock surimi production through Aug. 15, 2020 stood at 124,031 metric tons, and through Aug. 21, 2021, it added up to 152,087 metric tons. During the second quarter of this year, production of 32,804 metric tons more than doubled the 14,912 metric tons of 2020. According to Craig Morris, CEO of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers in Seattle, multiple factors are in play for the 2021 ...
Read More
Who we are: Hill Family
Published onFor nearly 50 years, four generations of the Hill family have owned and operated Key Largo Fisheries one of the most successful commercial fishing operations in the Florida Keys. Key Largo, Fla. / Lobster, crab Established in 1972 by Jack and Dottie Hill, it has grown into a wholesale and retail market, shipping product around the world; a bustling outdoor caf; a busy commercial and recreational marina; and a purveyor of rigged bait all under the steady leadership of their sons, managing partners Tom and Rick Hill. But last June, the Hills agreed to sell the business to another family who owns and operates marinas and other commercial real estate in the Keys and New England for an undisclosed price. They will stay on as advisers to the new owners for at least the next few months. Key Largo Fisheries harvests and sells lobster, stone crab, shrimp, and fish, as well ...
Read More
Editor’s Log: Going live
Published onTheres something humbling about seeing your own cover story headlining in Fishing Back When. Ten years ago was my first trip to Alaska for National Fisherman. I had the pleasure of spending a full week in and out of the fishing hamlet of Petersburg. A lot of Americans put Alaska on a bucket list, but theres so much to see in this one state with more than 33,000 miles of shoreline (including its islands) that one trip hardly seems adequate. Ive been lucky to visit almost every year (before 2020 *insert cry emoji*), sometimes twice, and see new places almost every time. Yet still, I have a long list of fishing villages to be checked out before I can say Ive had the Alaska experience. This year, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute celebrates 40 years of industry-funded promotion work that has made the Alaska Seafood brand the gold ...
Read More
Island Life: Jay Fleming documents Chesapeake Bay’s offshore communities
Published onThis fall, National Fisherman contributor Jay Fleming releases his second photography book, Island Life. Following the publication of his first book, Working the Water an in-depth documentation of the Chesapeake Bays fisheries Fleming narrowed his focus to Marylands Smith Island and Virginias Tangier Island, the last two inhabited offshore islands in his home waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Jay Flemings new book Island Life is available at www.JayFlemingPhotography.com/shop Although less than 15 miles of water separate Smith and Tangier from the mainland, centuries of isolation have preserved the unique way of life of these island communities, making them feel worlds apart from mainland living. Residents of these two islands have a deep connection to the water, with seafood being the primary driver of their economies. After documenting the islands iconic blue crab scraping fishery for Working the Water, Fleming quickly became enamored with the islands and ...
Read More
Pacific Dungeness: Live buyers are back, frozen stocks down before peak U.S. sales time
Published onWest Coast Dungeness crabbers got off to a late start after price negotiations with major processors delayed the harvest by a few weeks. As of Aug. 25, the fleet had put in 28.15 million pounds, and better yet, average ex-vessel prices hit $4.96 per pound, according to data with PacFIN. Crabbers in January went fishing after agreeing to a base price of $2.75 per pound. Though the final harvest numbers and the ex-vessel values for the season will take a few months to catch up (the season closed Aug. 15), the 2021 season brought hope to a fleet after the covid-19 pandemic hobbled markets in 2020. Last years catch wound up frozen and sitting in cold storage facilities as domestic outlets shut down and brought the widespread closure of restaurants and crab shacks. No-travel mandates in March also took buyers of live crab ...
Read More
Way Back Wednesday: Perspective on Petersburg
Published onA replica of the Viking ship Valhalla and the Bojer Wikan Fishermens Memorial in Petersburg, Alaska, stand in tribute to the towns commercial fishing and Norwegian heritage. On the cover: Sons of Norway National Fisherman November 2011
Read More
Niche nets: Fisherman-focused Gannet Nets helps fleets seine strong
Published onFounded by longtime fisherman David ONeill, Gannet Nets aims to provide premium gear by way of deliberate, data-driven development. Far from the bustle and board rooms of larger suppliers, ONeill runs a three-person affair based on Washingtons Vashon Island with a focus on innovative gear for purse seining. The birth of Gannet can be traced back 35 years to the beginning of ONeills fishing career. That journey took him from his native Scotland to Norway and eventually to Alaska, where he cut his teeth as a crewman and sonar operator. He then spent several years at Seattle Marine and later a decade with Garware before founding Gannet Nets in 2010, which he now runs with the help of Matthew Camardo and Ezra Blake. ONeill said his company is very small next to industrys major players, which allows him to work closely with fishermen and develop niche products that ...
Read More
Wheelhouse in the cloud: Tech is moving marine electronics into the world of remote monitoring and artificial intelligence
Published onWheelhouse electronics have evolved with increasing speed in the 70 years since World War II, when technologies like radar, sonar and radio communications began to make fishing more efficient and safer. As disruptive technologies enter the wheelhouse, that evolution is going places few fishermen ever imagined. Wheelhouse electronics are leaving the wheelhouse. On most boats, crew members still get woken up to stand wheel watches when steaming to and from the fishing grounds. They watch the radar, the sounder, the plotter and the gauges. But new technologies are adding layers of redundancy that can make boats safer and more efficient. Sensors and systems capable of monitoring things like fuel burn, engine performance, battery charge levels, refrigeration variables and rudder angle, are no longer just sending that information to the wheelhouse. Onboard communications and satellites can now send that information to a captain or engineer if they are in their bunks ...
Read More
Northern Lights: Sea the world
Published onWe recognize that responsible seafood sourcing has both environmental and social implications, and its important that we find transparency in our seafood supply chain. What a time its been, these past 20 months. We have seen every sector of society turned upside down and inside out. We have adapted and overcome many of these challenges, and still look forward to the future as optimistically as possible. Part of that optimism is demonstrated by getting back to business together and looking ahead to the future. Every year the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute holds its annual All Hands on Deck meeting, a three-day-long public conference bringing together all ASMI staff, contractors and seafood experts to present and discuss current marketing efforts, as well as strategies and challenges facing the industry, with the ASMI Board of Directors and the ASMI species and operational committees. The event is free and open to ...
Read More
Palm pilots: Simrad ramps up mobile features in a new app for navigation
Published onAn updated mobile app from Simrad gives skippers more handheld control and information than ever before. Available for iPhone and iPad from the Apple Store and for Android from Google Play, this new app features enhanced mapping, with updated C-MAP nautical charts, as well as personal waypoints, routes, and tracks. According to Simrad, the updated C-MAP charts highlight the most important features in the water, making for an uncluttered view. Simrad is also touting the apps handy mirroring feature, which consolidates control of Simrad multifunction displays through a single handheld device. The new mirroring feature allows you to view and direct your Simrad electronics from anywhere on the boat right from the palm of your hand. This easy integration with companion devices, along with intuitive C-MAP charts and features make the Simrad app a no-brainer for any Simrad user to download and use, said James Methven ...
Read More
Modern maintenance: Cummins and Siren Marine connect for engine monitoring
Published onRhode Islands Siren Marine is expanding in the commercial market with a Connected Boat collaboration with Cummins. Cummins recently launched PrevenTech, which uses Sirens cloud-based technology to monitor Cummins engines and generators. According to Siren, PrevenTech uses global connectivity, big data, advanced analytics, and Internet of Things (often referred to as IoT) technology to provide advanced detection, reporting, and diagnosis of potential engine health issues on phones, tablets, and computers. One of the main features of PrevenTech is the FleetguardFIT FIT stands for filtration intelligence technology. Siren calls FleetguardFIT the first comprehensive, real-time filtration, oil and hydraulic fluid quality monitoring solution. It uses several smart sensors that are linked to the cloud to analyze and communicate the level and condition of a boats important fluids. The idea is that real-time data will eliminate guesswork and cut down on constant manual monitoring of fluids and time-consuming maintenance ...
Read More
National Fisherman — November Issue — 2021
Published onCover Story: Island Life Chesapeake Bay photographer and writer Jay Fleming documents the not-yet-lost world of Tangier and Smith islands, and the people who live there. Naval architects and builders prepare for alternative power and propulsion developments on fishing vessels Remote monitoring and artificial intelligence take their turn at the helm. Puget Sounds fisherman-founded company keeps seiners. In-person and online, All Hands on Deck brings together the Alaska seafood community. Lobster boat racing has its return season; PVC for wooden workboats; Petrzelka Brothers wrap it up...and more! Click below to read the current issue
Read More
Maryland team rebuilding oyster buyboat for spring 2021; pushboat for classic skipjack launches after covid delay
Published onWayne Goddard of Valley Lee, Md., and his son-in-law Brian Hite of Ridge, Md., are rebuilding portions of the 65-foot oyster buyboat Poppa Francis at their railway on St. George River in Piney Point, Md. The Poppa Francis was built in 1989 by Waynes father, Francis Goddard, who has semi-retired from boatbuilding. Few boatbuilders ever really retire. There always seems to be one more boat in them. The Goddards are installing new wooden decks, two new 225-hp John Deere diesel engines, and a new pilothouse. The original steel decks have been pulled off and are being replaced with pine decking. The new pilothouse is going to be 10 inches higher than the old one to provide better visibility when shells and seed are mounded up on deck. The pilothouse shell walls, roof and doors are going to be prefabricated by Larry Jennings of Jennings Boatyard ...
Read More
