Juneautek-2010 Year In Review. Part 1

Commercial Fishing and Salmon both managed to find their way into the headlines many times over the past year.  The big news of the year seem to center around “Frankenfish,” an Aquabounty conceived super salmon.  The new species is juiced up with Chinook genes and a bit of a Conger Ell, resulting in a salmon that grows 3 times faster than its genetic counterpart.

Salmon had a number of moments in the spotlight this summer.  The run in Prince William Sound was so amazing that tenders and processors could barely keep up.  They broke the record for most salmon produced in a week.  Bristol Bay also had a bang up year, though some were worried because of a late start.  Sadly enough, it was rather lackluster in southeast Alaska.  The price saved us this season, creating one of Alaska’s largest harvest by value.  Therefore, salmon had quite a year…

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The fishing year started for me in Sitka with Sac Roe Herring.  Also known as the “Superbowl of Seining!”  This year was sure to impress with huge quotas and huge collisions.  I was there for the first opener and it was insane.  The F/V Shady Lady centered around much of the drama and confusion as they battled a huge collision and even the boat rolling over.  It was insane.  Check out the videos:

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California even entered the news scene with an unexpected “Market Squid” season.  For the first time since 1964, the squid fishery fulfilled its quota before Christmas.  The conditions were more than favorable for squid.  La Nina provided the perfect water temps and the squid showed up en masse.

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That’s a start on our look back this year.  We will wrap it us next post…

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