The time has come when sleep comes in two hour chunks and the deck of the Courageous is filled with fish. The crew is working around the clock, harvesting the world's best wild Alaska sockeye salmon to fill your freezers.
The crew has salmon steaks for dinner most nights. Literally deck to dish!
The guys are still fishing the Nushagak river. So far, nearly 12 million fish have been caught in this district alone and over 24 million fish have been harvested in all of Bristol Bay. It's been an excellent year so far. The fish are larger than last year, which makes a big difference when you're picking thousands out of the net.
There are four districts you are able to fish as a Bristol Bay permit holder- Naknek/Kvichak (pronounced Kwee-jak), Egegik, Ugashik, and Nushagak.
At the beginning of the season, fishermen must choose where to begin. The Bristol Bay fleet has around 1200 small boats, and half of them started this season in the Nushagak (aka the Nush). Earlier in the year, biologist predicted a strong early run to this river system, and the predictions were accurate.
During the season, the biologists make predictions based on the Port Moller test fishery. This fishery is 150-200 miles southwest of the Bristol Bay inshore fishing districts; sockeye salmon typically take 5 to 7 days to travel this distance. Two boats fish six stations per day for 30 minutes at a time. Sometimes stations are not fished due to bad weather.
Each station is about 10 nautical miles apart. The team at Port Moller records how many fish are caught at each station, predict where they'll end up, and pass data onto fishermen and processors so they can plan for peaks. Here's a graphic of the different stations in the test fishery.
To the left is an example of a Port Moller report. You can see how many fish were caught at each station during the 30 minute fishing period. Stations 6 and 8 will most likely end up in the Ugashik district, while stations 20-24 will likely end up in the Nush. Marine weather can change their direction, but overall, this information is super useful. The higher the overall index, the better the fishing.
So why does picking your district matter so much? Because if you decide to change, you must wait 48 hours before switching. Two days during the peak of the season could mean 30,000 lbs. of fish! If fishing is hot in one district, it's tempting to move there, but the missed fishing periods are always a risk.
Mike's motto is "stay and make it pay." For now, the Courageous will stay in the Nush. They are currently fishing today, July 7th, and this opener will close at 8pm. Then, it reopens from 11:30pm until 8:30am July 8th and again from 11:30am until 8pm. In between openers, fish must be delivered. So, you get the idea... these fishermen will sleep well in August.
How do they cope with the lack of regularly sleep? They take short napes whenever they can. Linden has this skill mastered. Here are a couple of my favorite photos of him sneaking in naps while fishing around the clock.
I asked Owen to draw a picture of the F/V Courageous and here's what he came up with. He said Mike's inside the cabin and Randy and Markham are on deck. Linden is down below sleeping, which is kind of hilarious. For the record, Linden is one of the hardest working guys I've ever met and I am jealous of his ability to fall asleep anywhere.
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Owen joins Mike in Bristol Bay to finish out the season
The F/V Courageous is currently in the Nushagak fishing district with about 650 other boats, waiting for the sockeye salmon to strike.
We've been super busy with preseason tasks the past few weeks, and now the F/V Courageous and its crew are on their way to Bristol Bay.