Another season is in the books! That makes number 15! The biggest factor is the price. Its hard to believe that small total catches add up so quickly. Basically, the salmon run was small, but the trend in pricing makes the season worthwhile. Overall, we fished a total of 32 days. In July, the early chum totals were incredible. At nearly 80 cents a lb., chum salmon became 10 dollar bills rolling over the deck. Even a set for 100 fish, was worthwhile. Not glorious, but it added up in the long run. Many boats made a lucrative early season on chum. In August, the weather changed. The first couple weeks were full of amazing sunshine combined with a lack any real volume of pinks. “The coast” hit by the middle of the month and a massive volume of pinks were harvested in just a few two day openers. No real volume of pinks showed up in other areas. Overall, it was a fantastic season on the F/V Halcyon. The boat functioned perfectly. There were no serious breakdowns or malfunctions. Other than human error, that is. Its been insightful to see the boat evolve into a fishing machine over the past three seasons.
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Sadly, This season claimed a few vessels. Luckily, No one was seriously injured in these incidents. Early in the season the tender vessel F/V Mary Kay took on water and sank near Dixon Entrance. (here) A seiner sank up north in Slocum Arm near Waterfall Bay. (here) Also, an old seiner, which is now a troller took on water while being towed in and sank. (here) Here’s a twitter embed of the F/V Endurance, which suffed a collision with a tender. Yes, it was the crew. And yes, they were sleeping…
http://t.co/xWGxk0xX | Commercial Fishing Photo of The Day | Accidents Happen. F/V Endurance 2012 pic.twitter.com/PNxodJoi
— DDC (@JuneauTek) August 18, 2012
Here are a couple of YouTube treasures to give you an impression of the summer. Until next year…
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Oh yeah, Eat More Salmon!