We just returned from our annual “shakedown” trip, and I’m glad to report that we both remembered how to set gear and clean fish! Both Dave and I always seem to experience some anxiety the weeks leading up to the summer king opener. A few days ago Dave had a classic dream of being late to clean halibut because he couldn’t find his clothes… there will no doubt be a few more of those in the weeks to come.

We left town on a Friday - which might cause some old timers to gasp. Leaving port on a Friday is one of those classic superstitions that we still think about even when we don’t follow them. There are a few more that we joke about - like no whistling in the wheelhouse, no talking about horses (or pictures of horses or really anything to do with horses) and nothing green on the boat. We do console ourselves by backing out of our slip, which supposedly alleviates the jinx...

We said goodbye to Sitka and cruised north, up and around Baranof Island into Chatham Strait and headed for Kuiu Island. Dave first came to Alaska when he was 20 and worked in a logging camp there and since we had plenty of time to fish we decided to do a little sight seeing.  We anchored up in Halleck Harbor, dropped our little row boat (F/V Johnny Cake) into the water and headed for the beach. The black files were pretty vicious, so I had a great excuse to wear my kuspuk! I am always ready to cut seaweed so we cruised around on the shore for a bit looking for lunch before heading inland to explore “Fossil Bluffs”. We worked our way up a pretty steep slope cushioned by thick moss, trying to avoid monstrous stands of Devil’s Club. It had been hot on the beach but once we were in the woods it was cool, dark and quiet.

If you ever find yourself on an island in southeast Alaska and you hear something that kinda sounds like a big kitten meowing in distress, do not waste anytime wondering “what kind of jerk leaves a scared, large kitten on an island?” There is no kitten, and every second you and the waste wandering around with a puzzled look on your face is one second closer to that angry mama bear mauling you.  

Yes, that’s right, we realized that there was definitely an unhappy bear cub close and coming closer - the woods were so thick you could barely see 5 feet in front of you. Dave started running towards the beach, yelling at me to “MOOOOOVE” and I moved - it’s a miracle that no one broke an ankle (although my quads are still killing me 4 days later).  We scrambled down to the beach, got the Johnny Cake back in the water and rowed home.   

We’ve been a little shy with cooking posts lately here in the galley - rest assured we’ve been eating well - we’re especially thankful for considerate fishing friends dropping off ling cod and black cod tips and keeping us happy!  

Today I decided we should celebrate Day of the Dave - an annual holiday dedicated to my hard working husband, friend to fishermen and captain of our ship (literally and figuratively). So, from this day forward I am declaring the second Friday of June FREE from BOAT WORK! Put down the sander, hang up the headlamp. Here in Sitka, Dave will be physically forced to stop working at 2:00 today in order to enjoy a 90 minute massage at Botankia, a hot shave and a hair cut from Malcolm, Mojitos hand crafted by the one-and-only Ramon at the Westmark and one of his all-time favorites, homemade Kare Kare. 

Lucky for us, Sitka has a large Filipino population so our grocery stores feature a nice selection of imported ingredients… Although I know my attempt won’t ever quite live up to his favorite version from the Grand Aleutian, here’s my take on this Filipino comfort food.

Ingredients

3 - 4 lbs. oxtails
3 Tb. avocado oil
2 pints water
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 can banana blossoms, sliced
2 cups cubed eggplant
1 lb. green beans
1/4 cup rice flower
1.5 cups chunky peanut butter
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tb. fish sauce
2 tsp. shrimp paste
salt and pepper to taste

Season the oxtails with salt and pepper while heating some of your avocado oil in a big cast iron Dutch oven or similar pot. When the oil is smoking hot, sear the oxtails until they get nice and crusty brown on all sides. Add the water to just cover the meat and then simmer for about 3 hours, or until the meat in tender.  Drain the tails, saving the broth and pull the meat off the bones (you can do this up to 3 days in advance). 

Toast the rice flour in a sauté pan over medium heat until golden brown. Take a 1/2 cup of your broth and whisk in the toasted rice flour to make a paste and set aside.

When you’re ready to eat, heat the rest of your avocado oil in that same big, heavy pot and saute the onions, eggplant and green beans until el dente, add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Add in 3 cups of the reserved broth and as it comes to a simmer you can whisk in the peanut butter and then rice flour thickener, along with the cooked meat, the banana blossoms, the fish sauce and the fish paste.  Let simmer for a few minutes, taste and adjust seasonings before serving.

The 80-foot Tender Kupreanof sunk out in the Fairweather grounds this morning. Thankfully everyone aboard is safe and sound. You often hear that Alaska’s fishing industry is dangerous (Hello, “Deadliest Catch”). What you don’t hear as much about is all the proactive efforts that go into keeping fishermen (and everyone out on the water from kayakers to cruisers) safe.

On board the Virga we practice a variety of safety measures.  We want to be in compliance with the Coast Guard’s requirements for fishing vessels, but we also want to concentrate on fishing and not have to worry about the “what if’s…” 

Survival suits, a life raft, a variety of flares; everything tested yearly and organized neatly. We practice drills to make sure we’re comfortable with where to go and what to do in different situations. Man overboard, water in the engine room, a fire in the galley. Feeling confident under pressure in different situations is the best way to try and ensure you’re not going to panic if you actually find yourself in one of these scary situations.  

Dave and I have also both taken the Alaska Marine Safety & Education Association’s 2-day safety class, a great way to practice all kinds of panic-inducing scenarios. You get to climb in and out of a liferaft wearing an immersion suit, try and plug up holes in a flooding hull, all kinds of fun stuff!  

Hopefully we’ll never have to make a may day call - but if we do, we’ll be ready, just like the Kupreanof’s crew. Here’s the whole story of their rescue. 

UPDATE from A.L.F.A., Commissioner Cotton moved for Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) reductions that would reduce actual bycatch below 2014 levels by 18% in total, stating that he would prefer and support greater reductions but that he recognized he did not have support from Washington and Oregon Council members.  

Washington Council member Bill Tweit then amended the PSC allocations to each sector, allowing more bycatch in each sector.  The amendment that passed establishes the following limits:

• Amendment 80---25% PSC reduction
  
• Trawl limited Access--15%
  
• Non-trawl pacific cod- 15%
  
• CDQ-- 20%
  

Even though this action reduced the caps, it allows an INCREASE in bycatch over 2014 and historic levels.  

NMFS Council member Mr Merrill amended motion to change the Trawl limited access sector's PSC to 20% - Motion Failed

Substitute Motion: Council member Duncan Fields moved to postpone action and to bring it back for final action at a subsequent meeting with an option for performance standards for the A80 sector (performance standard would reduce PSC by 25%, set performance standard at 30%, trigger a 35% reduction in PSC cap if A80 fleet exceeds 30% performance standard in 3 out of 5 years.)  

WOULD ALLOW FINAL ACTION IN OCTOBER.  Failed 5-6

FOR THE RECORD: Ed Dersham voted AGAINST Alaskan's asking for a reduction in bycatch on every motion. 

Mr Tweit's amendment to the main motion passed 5-4.

Council members all stated on the record that this is a first step and more action on bycatch should be expected.  

Final motion passed with NMFS, WA, OR and Ed Dersham voting in favor.

To everyone who testified on this issue--THANK YOU.  The testimony was outstanding even though the outcome is dismal.

A rainy Sunday gives us a moment for reflection. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has been meeting in Sitka for the last 6 days - they’re talking about all kinds of issues, but the one that’s held our focus has to do with by-catch limits on bottom trawlers working the waters of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BS/AI).

You can read about both sides of the issue on the internet. Read the small boat halibut fishermen’s perspective on the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association’s website here and read about the Amendment 80 Trawl Fleets P.O.V. here.

Here’s my perspective. I think most people will agree that bottom trawling is one of the most destructive fishing practices there is. The trawls themselves destroy habitat and the fishing method is rather indiscriminate, scooping up whatever lies in the path of the trawl. As the sea life is brought to the surface its under enormous pressure, which its unlikely to survive before being dumped on deck.  Sure, over the decades trawlers have made improvements to their gear, trying to lift if off the bottom or building in different types of extruders to help non-target species escape. I applaud the dedicated scientists and engineers that are doing work in this field.

But to me, improving bottom trawling is like improving smoking. Cigarettes are bad for you, adding filters or reducing tar may make them a little less harmful but it can’t change their very nature. The bottom trawl industry would have you believe that they are doing their best to voluntarily reduce by catch (usually citing percentages, which I find meaningless out of context). 

However, during public testimony at the NPFMC meetings this past week, several bottom trawler captains told the council that yes, they are trying to reduce halibut bycatch - but not because they care about the resource. They try to reduce halibut bycatch because they know that when they hit the cap, they are shut down.  Those are their words, not mine.

One captain even told the council that he “relaxes” towards the end of the season if he still has halibut bycatch available. If a captain’s vigilance can reduce bycatch then let’s force them to be more vigilant by lowering the cap. 

They say “we’re doing our best” but the information available, along with the trawlers own testimony, belies that statement. Scientific research shows that Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) rates trend up at the end of the season; one reason? Because captains “relax” once they know they aren’t going to hit the cap.  

To those that say it’s an “allocation issue not a conservation issue” I have this response. If you don’t think that trying to reduce the millions of pounds of immature halibut that the trawlers dump back into the ocean dead and/or dying isn’t a conservation issue then I don’t know what is. 

And I’ll paraphrase Peggy Parker who told the commission “Even if you don’t admit this is a conservation issue now, it’s going to be a conservation issue in the future”.

Yes, lowering the by catch cap is going to a hardship for the Amendment 80 fleet, but hardship can bring innovation. As David is fond of saying, “Necessity is the naked learning to knit.” Hesitating to act on conservation issues because they might cause economic hardship is a recipe for disaster. We need to stop being so shortsighted and act now to prevent larger issues in the future. 

We’ll have an answer from the NPFMC in a bit here on what they are going to do to protect the halibut resource in the BS/AI, we’ll let you know what they decide.