This season, the Bristol Bay 2024 sockeye salmon forecast estimates a total run of 39 million fish. That’s 35% smaller than the most recent 10-year average run size, and a drop from last season’s 54.5 million fish run. This weekend in Dillingham, the boatyard and harbor were noticeably quieter, with some discussion of crews holding off on big renovations and putting boats in the water later, to help cut costs and recover from last season’s low prices. But despite the lower forecast and market uncertainty, crews seem cautiously optimistic headed into the new season. KDLG spoke with fishing crews at the Dillingham harbor to get the latest boatyard buzz.
Meghan Gervais, a long time captain of the F/V Maru takes a break from boat repairs to get out the grill. Gervais talks about her hopes for the coming season as she turns over a leg of lamb on the grill for family dinner, who is crewing with her this year. She’s been working on boats in Bristol Bay since 2006.
“I feel cautiously optimistic,” Gervais said. “A little better than I was in the fall. Last year, leaving was like getting kicked in the stomach. Or having your throat stepped on.”
Silver Bay Seafoods has announced a base price of $1.10 per pound for chilled fish, with extra incentives for bleeding, and other processors are expected to announce a similar price. Coming off of last year’s historic low price of $0.50 a pound, it’s a confidence boost for fishing crews to get back out on the water knowing a price ahead of the season.
“It was really hard on everybody to go home with such a low price. And there have been some positive signs this spring in terms of price,” Gervais said. “I'm just happy to get to go fishing and go put my net in the water, it's what I really love to do.”
Last season’s low prices were followed by permit values dropping over the winter, which Gervais says, has a silver lining.
“The permits over the winter were, I think $135,000 was the lowest that I had heard of, and I think the upside of that is that it allowed some young fishermen to buy in,” Gervais said. “When permits are over $200,000, that's prohibitive for new and upcoming fishermen. So there's an upside to the downside and hopefully some guys were able to buy in.”
One of those fishermen is her son, who she hopes continues fishing the bay.
“My son is 21, and I've been talking to him about buying in. But it's a lot of capital to come up with $130,000 to $200,000 for a permit, and then a boat. It's a big investment for a young person.”
A few boats have launched already in the Dillingham harbor, some going through test runs and training greenhorns, and others working on boat repairs. But Gervais remarks it’s noticeably quieter in the PAF boatyard this year.
“I think a lot of people are functioning just in a lean mode and not doing major projects. I'm not doing any major projects on my boat. I'm just fixing the things that were broken last year and just small things, but nothing major. I've just noticed it in the level of activity around the boatyard. It feels really subdued here, people are coming later. It feels like there's less crew around,” Gervais said.
“A lot of years, this place is just hopping, and there are grinders running and there is noise and action everywhere. And this year it just feels kind of calm because people are, I think, minimizing their work lists because people didn't make as much money last year.”
Tom Rogotzke has fished in Bristol Bay for over two decades, alongside his father Roger and brother Jay. With higher prices and a solid forecast, Rogotzke says he feels good about the upcoming season.
“I’m feeling optimistic,” Rogotzke said. “I feel better than I did last year about it. It seems like a lot of the other fisheries in the state are doing better maybe than they were at this point last year. So I have a good feeling about this year. Even with the forecast being a little bit less, I still think that the fish will be bigger and that'll, it's, it's easier to pick less fish that are bigger than a lot of small fish.”
Last year, Rogotzke fished for Peter Pan Seafoods, which entered receivership in April and has ceased operations.
“It's really sad the way that that played out for them over the last couple years. Like, you could see something was going on and, andIt didn't work out and I think they were working as hard as they could to keep us informed and keep their heads above water and they just, they couldn't pull it off and so it was time to make a switch and I'm glad we did,” Rogotzke said.
Rogotzke signed on with OBI Seafoods this year. Peter Pan’s Dillingham and Port Moller facilities were taken over by Silver Bay this summer.
There’s big buzz in the boatyard about the new processor and competition: Northline Seafoods. The new 400 foot floating processor, dubbed the Hannah, is anchored at Clark’s Point in the Nushagak District, but will be buying fish from all districts this season.
“It's good to have a shake up every once in a while. I think it keeps everybody on their toes and makes it so that the processors aren't comfortable,” Rogotske said. “They all are learning to play nice together as well as us learning what to expect from each processor, and I think a shake up is good.
Sam Hanson started fishing Bristol Bay when he was 15, and is now on his 6th season. This year, he and his crew will fish for Northline. Hansen agrees–new competition among processors is good.
I think that the guy who runs Northline promised to compete with them, I guess,” said Hanson. “Everybody's trying to do the best for their fishermen it sounds like, which definitely feels better than them trying to screw us over. So it's nice to feel supported by the canneries.”
Hansen says he feels better about fishing this summer with a pre-season price posted.
“Having them just give it to us at the beginning is definitely–I feel like it gives the crew and the captains a lot more energy to actually fish,” Hanson said. “At the end of the season, we actually know we can pay our yard bill, we can actually pay insurance.
“Everybody's having a tough time finding crew,” Hanson said. “Some guys aren't even going in the water cause they can't even pay their insurance, which is–it's just hard. So it's nice to know actually what we're gonna get.”
So far, Silver Bay Seafoods is the only major processor in the Bay to have posted a price for the season. But fishermen are optimistic that the new business in town will keep processors in competition.
Get in touch with the author at jessie@kdlg.org
