AND NOW, WE SLEEP (A LITTLE BIT)
The Bristol Bay peak has come and gone. Now the crew is enjoying some stretches of sleep longer than 2 hours, and they're going on adventures, exploring the Bristol Bay wilderness.
Fishing is open 24-7, but it has really slowed down the past week. Most days, they catch around 2,000 pounds. This slow fishing is referred to as "scratch fishing." It's certainly not as productive as fishing during the peak, but it's worth it to stay out there, as 500 fish a day does add up!
Mike reports his brain won't stop operating on fish mode. It's all he dreams about. He has a recurring nightmare that they're anchored up in a very busy fishing area, and everyone around them has their nets out, trying to fish. They're in the way, about to be hit by the other boats. Then, in "real life," he jumps out of bed, and yells at Bhajan to pull the anchor. Bhajan jumps out of bed each time and yells back at Mike that he's only dreaming. This has happened quite a few times...
Since the F/V Sofia can fish very shallow, they sometimes go too shallow and end up on a sandbar (called "going dry.") If this happens while there are fish in the net, they have to jump out of the boat, pick the fish out of the net, and pitch them back onto the boat and into the icy fish holds. This has happened quite a few times this season too (see photo below). The crew has to wait for high tide to get the boat off the sandbar. In the meantime, they usually repair gear, or sleep. Since the fishing has mellowed, they've been going on hikes and adventures while the boat is dry. It's nice to be able to enjoy each other after such an intense and productive season.
As of now, the total Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run is over 55 million fish. The cumulative harvest is over 42 million fish. That's over 189 million pounds of sockeye salmon! We have been blessed with yet another bountiful sockeye salmon season.
PREORDERING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER!
This year, we aren't planning on processing a ton of extra fish beyond what our preorders indicate the demand is. With another baby on a way and many projects this fall and winter, we won't have as much time to market and ship additional product. We do plan to have some fish on hand for awhile, but not as much as we had in 2017 or 2018.
This means order what you think you'll need for the year now- don't plan on waiting until March 2020 to order more because we may be sold out, and won't have it restocked until October 2020.
If you don't have the freezer space for as much fish as you'd like to preorder, we can set up a plan where we send a share three times, or quarterly. For example, some folks order three 20 pound boxes to be shipped throughout the year. We are pretty flexible. If you'd like to discuss an option like this, please email us at info@smartsourceseafood.com, and we can set this up for you.
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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.