Bristol Bay 2020 Begins: Fishing during COVID
Bristol Bay 2020 has officially begun, and so far, so good. Since our new boat, the F/V Courageous, was stored in Naknek, the guys flew to the fishing grounds in a small plane with our friend and favorite pilot, Stephanie, who owns Beryl Air in Homer. They're now busy with boat work to prepare for the season.
We're really excited about this year's crew. Bhajan returned from last year, and we're so happy to have him back. His crew share from last season paid for his whole year in college, which makes us really happy. He has the best attitude of any young person we've ever met.
Gus is a lifelong Alaskan and lives in Anchorage. This will be his first year on our boat, but his fourth year fishing in Bristol Bay. His experience makes him what we call a "deck boss," meaning he's in charge of the rest of the crew, and the way things run on deck. He has a lot of responsibility. He comes with lots of knowledge about the different areas of Bristol Bay too. There are four main districts in Bristol Bay that commercial fishermen focus on- Naknek/Kvichak, Egegik, Nushagak, and Ugashik. Mike is most familiar with Egegik, so it's nice to have someone on board that knows other areas well too. The fish typically arrive in the different districts at a bit of a staggered pace, so if you know the districts well, you can kind of jump around and hope to catch them in two or three different districts. This hasn't been our tactic in the past (we stay put in Egegik), but Mike may give it a try this year. Time will tell!
We're also delighted to have Mike's cousin's son, Jayden, on board. He's 17 and eager to learn. He's what we call a "greenhorn," meaning it's his first year commercial fishing. Hopefully, he'll catch the commercial fishing bug.
This year definitely has its challenges, as we take precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19. Bhajan and Jayden had to quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in Alaska. They also both had COVID-19 tests upon arrival. We set them up at the bottom of our property in an old school bus and van that we converted to "livable" space. They dug it! Owen had a blast with them, and was very sad to see them go.
The entire crew must also quarantine for an additional 14 days upon arrival to Naknek. Villages are able to set their own rules in regards to travel from anywhere else in Alaska. Maybe you're thinking, "they're all stuck on a boat together for six weeks anyway, so what's another two?" Well, preseason's usually a pretty fun reunion of fishing friends from around the country. It's a nice way to start a grueling season, but we'll stick to safety first this year.
The entire industry is taking precautions very seriously, as they're in a very rural area with limited medical resources, and a vulnerable older population that lives in the Bristol Bay region year round. The processors have implemented extremely strict guidelines to hopefully keep everyone safe.
That being said, the crew is ready to get off land and on the water. They'll launch the boat on June 18th at 2am- they have to launch with the tides, and high tide's in the middle of the night. The RSW (Refrigerated Sea Water) system gets its standard preseason check on the 19th. This is the very important system that keeps the fish cold upon catching, so they taste fresh all year long. It's a key step in the "fresh-frozen" process. After that, they'll head out in search of your salmon.
We are very excited to fill your freezers again this year and are proud to be your fishermen.
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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 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.