- 5/13/2025
Category
π₯
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00OK, I got a coast report for you, over, Kenny, just checked in on the satellite there at the coast, over.
00:00:07Did they get a tender?
00:00:10He had six fish in his first set, over. Six fish, two sockeyes, three dogs, oh, and a pig.
00:00:19What a bummer. Good side's coming. Good side will get there when it's over.
00:00:27Yeah, I know, that's what I looked at, the big kite. If you don't get the big kite, this whole thing out there.
00:00:34So anyways...
00:00:36Oh, I got a dog inside. Holy shit, it's a sockeye. I gotta curl him.
00:00:40Look at him go. Jump three times.
00:00:44Man, fish like your voice. You stay right there. Fish love your voice.
00:00:57You gotta go there. Just break the kite.
00:01:18I'm kind of, I guess, deck boss.
00:01:23It's a little bit more dangerous, I guess,
00:01:25because you're right next to the deck winch
00:01:27and lots of people get hurt doing that,
00:01:29but you just got to be careful.
00:01:30You got to be paying attention.
00:01:32That's the main part about fishing.
00:01:34You always got to be paying attention,
00:01:36because, I mean, you could kill yourself doing this.
00:01:48I pull the net to the beach, or we're doing open toes offshore.
00:01:58I just, I work together with the skipper,
00:02:01and we try to corral the fish.
00:02:09This is actually my first year.
00:02:11Actually, this is my third trip out.
00:02:14So I'm a greenhorn.
00:02:17As they like to call us.
00:02:27Yeah, I work the cork and the web,
00:02:30and I work the tow line.
00:02:32The tow line is where we hook up the skips
00:02:34so we don't drift.
00:02:36So we stay away from shore.
00:02:38It's a, it sounds real adventuresome to some of these young fellows, you know,
00:02:51until they come out and do it and find out it's actual work.
00:03:04Yeah.
00:03:05You know, and we haven't even begun the season.
00:03:08You know, it's not, it's not gotten crazy yet.
00:03:11When we start fishing two on, two off, or four on and one off,
00:03:17then it really gets to be a drag.
00:03:19I mean, it's a grind.
00:03:21It's justin' so I give up.
00:03:22I know, it's definitely way whereas,
00:03:23it's different from serrations.
00:03:24You know, you go to the GOs.
00:03:25It's interesting.
00:03:27It's pretty pretty.
00:03:29That's it.
00:03:30Cool.
00:03:30I don't know.
00:04:00I don't know.
00:04:30It looks just like a cancer.
00:04:35The flesh is completely falling away from itself.
00:04:39I had a case down there that was so bad that I cut one fillet off of the side of the fish,
00:04:46got halfway through the other side and held it up, and the fillet completely peeled off the rest of the bone.
00:04:51According to the United States EPA guidelines, consumption of more than one serving of farmed salmon per month could pose unacceptable cancer risks.
00:05:03I manage a seafood department right now in a grocery store.
00:05:08The disgusting part of it is those fish are going to people at these high-end restaurants, or any restaurant for that matter,
00:05:15and people are eating that, and they're not aware of what they're eating.
00:05:18It's also hurting all the fishermen, because these engineered fish are taking over the market.
00:05:30Everyone's buying them because they're so much cheaper, and it's a real problem.
00:05:34I'm afraid that it's going to take over, and my way of life is going to go away.
00:05:41Ketchikan is a small town nestled along the shoreline of a vast, flooded mountain range that makes up southeast Alaska.
00:05:57Surrounded by ocean fjords and national forests, Ketchikan's unique location was founded,
00:06:02and its roots and history rest on the abundant, wild Pacific salmon.
00:06:06In 1885, an Irishman named Mike Martin purchased 160 acres of land from an Indian named Paper-Nosed Charlie.
00:06:17The land included a salmon stream nicknamed Fish Creek.
00:06:22Its Tlingit Indian name translates to the spread wings of an eagle, and it became Ketchikan's namesake.
00:06:30Salmon psalteries began production, followed by canneries, and in the year 1900,
00:06:34with a population of 800, the town became a city.
00:06:40Trolling for salmon began on a small scale in 1903, and canneries continued to expand in size and number.
00:06:481912, Ward's Cove Cannery was established, and in 1913, Ketchikan Cold Storage was built,
00:06:55with a capacity to produce 70 tons of ice, and storage capacity of over 7,500,000 pounds.
00:07:02The halibut industry began to boom, and by 1930, more than 150 halibut boats and 1,000 salmon boats called Ketchikan home.
00:07:13These fishermen maintained a steady supply of seafood for the 13 canneries and cold storages that had by then been established.
00:07:20The industry underwent trials and tribulations, fish pirates raged against fish traps, and federal mismanagement eventually gave way to state regulation.
00:07:32The wild Alaskan salmon that had supported indigenous peoples for thousands of years,
00:07:38and that gave life to the city of Ketchikan, remains an important part of the town's identity.
00:07:45Despite 120 years of commercial fishing, Alaska maintains the only healthy and sustainable salmon fishery in the world.
00:07:55In the 1990s and the early 2000s have been the highest catches and escapements in the history of Alaska.
00:08:06So we're off the scale in terms of the production of wild stocks and the aquaculture programs as well.
00:08:15And we have an extremely dedicated crew of biologists that work for the state that work tremendous hours to see to it that it's managed properly.
00:08:25They do a tremendous job.
00:08:28They're as healthy now as they've ever been, if not healthier.
00:08:32In fact, the Chinook stocks on the mainland are healthier than we've seen them.
00:08:36I've been on the Chinook Technical Committee of the Pacific Salmon Commission for years,
00:08:41and we've been dealing with rebuilding the stocks to their historic levels,
00:08:47and in most cases we're up over the natural escapements that we're looking for,
00:08:51and everything's as healthy as it's been.
00:08:54So I would say, in general, it's probably the healthiest fishery in the world right now.
00:08:58It's got a real bright future.
00:09:01I don't see any wild problems anywhere.
00:09:03Over the years, rules and regulations have really been put in place to protect salmon streams.
00:09:11And I'd say, by and large, here in southeast Alaska, we have, as I said,
00:09:16almost pristine spawning grounds for the salmon.
00:09:19And we've been very fortunate that we've had very good marine survivals.
00:09:22Just the natural survival we've had over the last 20 to 25 years has been wonderful.
00:09:28And because we do manage the fisheries to assure escapement,
00:09:34we've been able to take advantage of the great marine survivals.
00:09:38And, yeah, we have more fish right now than we know what to do with up here.
00:09:47Peppers!
00:09:47Yeah, that's been a lot of fun having Jared.
00:09:50It's, uh, he's been on this, on, with his fishing since he was about eight.
00:09:54It's pretty much a family, family industry.
00:09:58It kind of goes down from generation to generation.
00:10:00I might be next, unless I find a good land job.
00:10:04Ron, my skiff man, is, uh, born and raised in Chomley Sound,
00:10:10which is an island on Prince of Wales Island.
00:10:13And he's a, he's a mountain man, born out of his time period.
00:10:18And he's a full-time commercial fisherman.
00:10:21I longline halibut, black cod, Pacific cod.
00:10:25And I've done, uh, some shrimping.
00:10:28I haven't done that for a few years.
00:10:29I've done a little herring fishing.
00:10:30And, kodiak tanner fish, which is a crab.
00:10:38And salmon.
00:10:42Jason, he's, I've known him since he was real little.
00:10:45And he's been bugging me for years, high school.
00:10:48Kid, it's just been bugging me and bugging me.
00:10:51And so I said, oh, I finally took him up and said, okay, let's go.
00:10:54First trip, I got sick.
00:10:56Second trip, hurt my arm.
00:10:58And then this trip, I got sunburnt really bad.
00:11:02My goal for the next trip is not to get hurt at all.
00:11:05The one slot Mike is filling, that slot's been filled for six years.
00:11:10It's just by happenstance, mostly, that if we need a guy
00:11:14and one of the other crewmen knows some of somebody
00:11:18that we want to give a chance, we'll give them a chance.
00:11:22But it's, I don't go shopping for salmon crew members.
00:11:30Day one on board the Viking Maid.
00:11:33The crew is the first to arrive on board.
00:11:36They don't know where they are going or when.
00:11:39But there's always work to be done and always supplies to be bought.
00:11:42We have a creamer now.
00:11:44Oh, chocolate milk.
00:11:45We're not getting chocolate milk.
00:11:48Where they go is always a mystery until Russell brings word.
00:11:52Yesterday, McAllister did a test set in Hawking.
00:11:54It went 70-some thousand pounds.
00:11:57That's cool.
00:11:58Well, they're going to make an announcement this afternoon
00:12:00and then we'll decide which way we're going to move.
00:12:02Only certain areas will be open to fishing.
00:12:05And of those areas, fishermen pick a spot based on past experience,
00:12:09time of year, weather, gut feelings, instinct, and superstition.
00:12:14Many captains are so superstitious and secretive
00:12:17that not even their crews are given a clue as to where they are going.
00:12:20Because in fishing, who's catching what and where is very important.
00:12:32Time to get down to the business of fishing.
00:12:35Right in north to Hidden Falls, possibly.
00:12:42To Hidden Falls.
00:12:43To Hidden Falls.
00:12:44To Hidden Falls, which is a terminal harvest area.
00:12:48Chase some chum salmon.
00:12:52It's an opening up there on Sunday.
00:12:54We're like a 20-hour boat ride here up the beach.
00:12:58Up through here, up through here, up through Wrangler Narrows by Petersburg,
00:13:01across Frederick Sound, down Gardner, up by Hidden Falls.
00:13:05In Chatham Straits.
00:13:07Here's Juneau over here.
00:13:09This is Sitka out here.
00:13:11And this is Petersburg.
00:13:12It's kind of like a shootout.
00:13:17Yeah, there could be about 100 boats in a seven, eight-mile area.
00:13:24So it's going to be real crowded, real crazy.
00:13:28A lot of boats dodging and weaving.
00:13:30It's pretty entertaining, really.
00:13:36A lot of guys scratching and clawing for a good set of chums.
00:13:43Hopefully, it should be good fishing.
00:13:47Yeah, it should be.
00:13:48We'll get a boatload.
00:13:49Oh, I've been at this too long to get too excited, but we've had sets as big as 50,000 pounds before,
00:13:58which is half a boatload in one set.
00:14:03So it'll be fun.
00:14:03Like, didn't a couple boats run into each other that year, too?
00:14:09Boat rolled over.
00:14:10That's what happened.
00:14:12Or was it some guy got hit by the main tow line?
00:14:15Yeah, a helicopter came and medevaced a guy off a back deck.
00:14:18Toe line snapped.
00:14:20Yeah, it was great.
00:14:21That was the day we had the 50,000 pounds set.
00:14:24We couldn't get it aboard.
00:14:25It took us two hours.
00:14:26Remember that?
00:14:27That was our first set of the season, wasn't it?
00:14:29First set of the year.
00:14:31Yeah, our very first set of the year.
00:14:3250,000 pounds.
00:14:33It was Timmy's and Jeff's first year, and we had to rail them all out.
00:14:38Yeah, they didn't know what a brailler was.
00:14:39I remember hearing Timmy with the end of that brailler, like, every time.
00:14:45Sorry, Timmy.
00:14:46Yeah, okay, we're just there, and we'll go inside or go around the starboard side of the key reef right now.
00:15:04There's people that will try it and then never do it again,
00:15:07and there's people that will do it and love it and keep doing it, I would say, you know what I mean?
00:15:11And then there's dudes that will come in and work for a week and be like,
00:15:14I'm out of here, you know, this is not my gig.
00:15:17It's almost impossible.
00:15:19You take all these different personalities and you shove them on a 58-foot boat
00:15:24and try to make sure they get along and plus teach them a job
00:15:26that they'll luckily get in a year, and you only have about a week to teach them it.
00:15:32Guys, you always got to be telling them what to do,
00:15:34and they just sit there staring at their hands all day.
00:15:38You know, guys like that really piss me off.
00:15:40You know, guys aren't going to make it, like, I think there's a guy on Gary's boat now,
00:15:44the guy who's running the hydraulics.
00:15:46I don't think, I think he's going to quit as soon as he gets back to Ketchikan.
00:15:49I don't know if Gary knows that now, but the other kid was telling me that.
00:15:53But, yeah, so there'd be, like, crew members, you can constantly go through them.
00:15:58We went through six guys, so, you know, they don't mess around.
00:16:02You screw up, you're done.
00:16:04We'll take you back to town, drop you off,
00:16:05or sometimes if you piss the captain off enough,
00:16:08it'll drop you off on the nearest packer.
00:16:09You don't even make it back to town.
00:16:11It's working on a boat.
00:16:13I mean, it's something you can do, anybody can do,
00:16:18but not everybody can.
00:16:19Early the next morning, the Viking maid reaches the Wrangell Narrows,
00:16:29nicknamed Christmas Tree Lane.
00:16:32More than 70 navigational aids light up the 21-mile stretch of narrow waterway passage.
00:16:38In some places, it is only 100 yards wide.
00:16:42Its average depth is only 19 to 22 feet,
00:16:45and navigating its passage requires at least 46 nautical course changes.
00:17:01At the northern edge of Wrangell Narrows
00:17:03is another small fishing town, Petersburg,
00:17:06and one of the processing plants, Ocean Beauty.
00:17:10Russell makes a quick stop to pick up an announcement
00:17:12provided by the Department of Fish and Game,
00:17:14who regulate the fishermen.
00:17:16I'm just going to grab any one of these pylons here.
00:17:24If we see a lot of fish entering,
00:17:26we'll give the fishermen two or three or four days to fish.
00:17:29But if things don't look good, or if certain areas don't look good,
00:17:33we won't allow them to fish in that area, or we'll cut back in time.
00:17:37The news release will announce time and area for the whole region
00:17:41because we coordinate all the openings throughout the region.
00:17:44We're not opening up a couple days here in Ketchikan and a couple days in Petersburg.
00:17:48Everything's open at the same time.
00:17:49So they kind of control the fleet movement that way
00:17:52so they don't get the whole fleet piling into one area.
00:17:57And it's worked real well.
00:17:59And, of course, over time, they've had a lot of practice at it.
00:18:02You know, since statehood, they've gotten really good.
00:18:06Now, since we all understand how safe the future of these salmon are,
00:18:10the Viking maid can continue northward to harvest a few of them.
00:18:13As we cross Frederick Sound, we are entering larger bodies of water
00:18:17that are not as difficult to maneuver in as the straits.
00:18:20These waters, however, represent a much more dangerous element than big tides.
00:18:24These waters are subject to heavy winds and big seas.
00:18:29Depending on experience, fishermen have seen various sizes of waves.
00:18:36It's really hard for me to say.
00:18:38I'd say I've definitely seen 20-foot seas.
00:18:41It's possible they've been a little bigger.
00:18:43I don't know.
00:18:44Probably 20 footers.
00:18:47I'm imagining.
00:18:48I don't really know.
00:18:50I've seen probably 30, 35-foot seas.
00:18:53Probably close to 30 footers.
00:18:54I don't know.
00:18:56I couldn't get a tape measure out at the time.
00:18:57I was rather busy.
00:19:02You just sit there and idle into them, you know.
00:19:05Hopefully your windows hold.
00:19:07But it's not fun, you know.
00:19:11But it happens.
00:19:19Sanders don't hesitate to fish in 5- to 6-foot seas.
00:19:22It's not fun or easy.
00:19:25But whenever there is an opening, fishermen want to fish.
00:19:31Like the roughest I think I've ever fished in as far as seining goes is probably about 15-footers.
00:19:36They were a nice swell, nice ocean swell.
00:19:39We were over at McLean's Arm.
00:19:40My dad goes and wakes us all up again or something.
00:19:44He took us back out there and it was a nice swell.
00:19:47It was rocking back pretty tough.
00:19:50We got it back and I think we only had like maybe a thousand pounds, a couple thousand pounds.
00:19:55So we just had to go test it out and see if there was anything out there.
00:19:58Well, in the rough weather things get a little trickier because then you really got a lot of weight swinging.
00:20:05The net goes way up, way up above the deck before it comes back down at you.
00:20:11And when the waves are heavy and the wind is blowing, that sand is blowing all over the place.
00:20:16And you got to hang on to it.
00:20:18Sometimes it will pick you up and make you fly around.
00:20:21But you got to keep a steady grip on it and keep throwing it down.
00:20:25Hauling gear one time in the heat of the battle, you know, you get a little close to the beach, things get crazy.
00:20:29I mean, it's, and it's a deal of odds.
00:20:32I mean, you're going to have a disaster.
00:20:34It's just your odds, you know, are totally against you.
00:20:42Oh yeah, I've salvaged a few, a few accidents.
00:20:45And they're always sad, but they do happen.
00:20:49I mean, it's just inevitable.
00:20:51Something, something happens.
00:20:53It's, I've been on a couple of different salvage operations where we had to go retrieve a boat that was unfortunate accident.
00:21:01Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world,
00:21:10particularly when done in the sporadic seas of Alaska.
00:21:14Every year, the fishing community is reminded of this, when something goes wrong and a boat doesn't come home.
00:21:22Nav tech programs, noble tech programs, computers, high tech fathom meters, radars, all this new stuff.
00:21:30And, uh, it's a lot safer than it ever was.
00:21:34But it's, uh, there's a lot of rocks out there, but you really have to pay attention.
00:21:37You know, a lot of uncharted rocks.
00:21:38From Wrangler Narrows, the Viking Maid traveled through Frederick Sound, up Chatham Straits, and onto Tocats Bay,
00:21:52just south of Hidden Falls and 80 nautical miles from Petersburg.
00:21:56The number of boats they could see rises quickly.
00:22:01Many boats are already gathering to look for jumps and trying to find the best spot for the first set of the next morning.
00:22:08As they search for the perfect location, these fishermen are also very anxious to find out what their competitors might or might not know.
00:22:15As a result, it is not uncommon to see a couple of boats pulled up alongside each other.
00:22:21Yeah, we're lost. What about you?
00:22:24Don't be lost.
00:22:25I'd like to have this bay, just me and you, when you showed up at the right time.
00:22:33It's also the camaraderie with the other boats.
00:22:35We have groups of us that work kind of together.
00:22:38So we're always on the radio, yik-yakin' and stuff like that.
00:22:41And it's, uh, it beats working for a living, you know.
00:22:45Yeah, I mean, you know, yeah, and so, I mean, this could be really good up here, too.
00:22:49It sounds like shit, there ain't no boats.
00:22:52122 last time, and I haven't seen 10 new players.
00:22:57I mean, this fleet could be less than 200.
00:23:01Yeah, it's good for me, except 100 from right here.
00:23:07Cooking crap, man.
00:23:08It's going to be loaded with boats in here.
00:23:31It's going to suck.
00:23:35It's going to be like a little hidden vault or something.
00:23:37Go home.
00:23:42Tell Ocean Beauty that we don't want to fish up here too much longer.
00:23:47Go back to the regular spots.
00:23:50Get to see the girlfriend every once in a while.
00:23:54That's about it.
00:23:57Everything that you like and you want is not here.
00:24:00I mean, my girlfriend is not here.
00:24:05Three months of the year, you know, three and a half, say maybe four months a year.
00:24:09I don't see her.
00:24:10You know, I get some garbled up phone call and once in a while maybe can shoot off an email and whatever.
00:24:16I don't know what she's doing, she doesn't know what I'm doing, I don't see her.
00:24:20You know, I'm lonely out here.
00:24:22It's the middle of nowhere.
00:24:23You're with a bunch of guys who you get sick of after three weeks and that's all you see is the same four faces every day.
00:24:30There's no warmth, there's no, there's no niceties.
00:24:35It can be hard, you know, at times, you know, little hours of sleep and, you know, but it's, you know, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else, you know, any other job, no way.
00:24:47I think this wind will blow, hopefully blow these fish up here.
00:24:56This right here is where Gary had, right on this corner of this island, Ron, yesterday, he had three sets for $85,000.
00:25:03He had one set for $40,000, he said, on a 20-minute tow on the flood yesterday morning.
00:25:09He said, yeah, yeah, there's jumps.
00:25:12He had jumps yesterday, so.
00:25:13So far, there's not very many boats here, so.
00:25:16Well, I hope to eat some gear first, you know.
00:25:19About, looked like to me, about 15 boats, so.
00:25:22Gary said a lot of those guys, or six of those guys, didn't even have gear on, nets on when he left.
00:25:28They were still.
00:25:30But, yeah, it's, um.
00:25:34I don't know.
00:25:36We'll find out more tomorrow.
00:25:38Before fishing, the power skip has to be dropped down into the water,
00:25:42fueled up, and run for several hours to make sure it is ready to go fishing first thing the next morning.
00:25:49The deckhands have to look over the net several times to make sure there are no holes.
00:25:54Any hole in the net could mean lost fish and lost money.
00:25:58So everything has to be in tip-top shape.
00:26:00Prior to statehood, Alaskan salmon runs were severely damaged
00:26:26by federal mismanagement and by corporate fish traps
00:26:29that decimated salmon populations.
00:26:33When Alaska became a state, fish traps were banned,
00:26:36and salmon were granted constitutional protection.
00:26:40Fishermen in Alaska are not allowed to catch fish
00:26:43until or unless enough salmon enter the streams
00:26:46to guarantee healthy reproduction.
00:26:48Fishermen in Alaska
00:27:18Horsemen in Alaska
00:27:42I don't know.
00:28:12I don't know.
00:28:42I don't know.
00:28:43I don't know.
00:28:44I don't know.
00:28:45I don't know.
00:28:46I don't know.
00:28:47I don't know.
00:28:48I don't know.
00:28:49I don't know.
00:28:50I don't know.
00:28:51I don't know.
00:28:52I don't know.
00:28:53I don't know.
00:28:54I don't know.
00:28:55I don't know.
00:28:56I don't know.
00:28:57I don't know.
00:28:58I don't know.
00:28:59I don't know.
00:29:00I don't know.
00:29:01I don't know.
00:29:02I don't know.
00:29:03I don't know.
00:29:04I don't know.
00:29:05I don't know.
00:29:06I don't know.
00:29:07I don't know.
00:29:08I don't know.
00:29:09I don't know.
00:29:10I don't know.
00:29:11what's going on getting their necks broken.
00:29:12The lines popping across.
00:29:14It's like I was saying before.
00:29:16You always got to pay attention.
00:29:18And if someone else isn't paying attention, they're going to hurt themselves and they're
00:29:21going to hurt you.
00:29:51Go ahead.
00:30:51Big loads of fish, deck loads, that's my favorite job.
00:31:08My favorite part of the job is deck loads by far.
00:31:13You can't get them all on deck anymore, so you get a big wave and you're dumping that
00:31:17back in and you pull up another big old wave and you're just like, yeah, that's more money.
00:31:22And then another one comes in and you're just like, yeah, look at all that fish and you just
00:31:27got to come and see it.
00:31:29It just makes a whole week worthwhile when you get a nice big set of fish, come pouring
00:31:36on deck, and when the whole deck's filled up to your knees and fish, that's the best part.
00:31:44The whole fishing thing is like a big game, I mean, usually we're on the top end of things
00:31:53because we've got that guy out there.
00:31:54It's us against the other guy, the other boat, you know, and it's like a professional sport
00:31:59and it's the competition life.
00:32:00And that's why I tell the new guys that come on board and say, this is a sport.
00:32:06We're a team.
00:32:07We're a five-man team.
00:32:08We're on as good as our weakest link.
00:32:09So we'll start them off slow and then, like, a couple weeks or, you know, maybe 40, 50 sets.
00:32:22I expect to be up to high speed.
00:32:38Everybody's out there gossiping on their CB all day long.
00:32:41That's a part of the game.
00:32:42It's a very complex and complicated game out there.
00:32:45So all day long you're hearing rumors, you're hearing hearsay, everyone's chatting, everyone's
00:32:50gossiping about what other boats are doing, what else is going on, what other spots are firing off.
00:32:56Some captains purchase VHFs with secure lines on them so that no one else can tap into it
00:33:02and they can communicate on secure radio lines and no one else can pirate into their conversations.
00:33:07It's that cutthroat.
00:33:08It's that competitive.
00:33:09Run!
00:33:10Why jump right here?
00:33:12It's better.
00:33:13Well, when I say yes, you've got to go up here.
00:33:16I mean, there's guys that just drive, drive, drive.
00:33:19Drive, drive, drive, drive are really hard drivers and other ones that are more relaxed and laid back.
00:33:25I used to be crazy, but anymore I've gotten to look at the big picture and just, I mean, people pay thousands of dollars for this.
00:33:33And we get paid to do it, which is really a treat.
00:33:38Second set.
00:33:39The first set was decent, but the course of the day is still uncertain.
00:33:53It is usually these early morning sets that make or break a day, so tensions remain high.
00:34:02Speed is of the essence.
00:34:04Even as the second set is hauled aboard, the skipper and skiffman are in constant communication.
00:34:10Salmon jump.
00:34:11Salmon jump.
00:34:12Through the use of hand gestures, the two relay the number and style of jumps they can see in order to try and quickly determine where the most fish are concentrated and which direction they will be moving for the next set.
00:34:25Once a decision has been made, the saying has to be set again before another boat can beat them to it.
00:34:40I used to jump around and whoop and, you know, scream, get real excited when I saw a bunch of fish pulling over the side of the boat.
00:34:50You look around and everyone, all the seasoned fishermen are stone cold because you don't press your luck.
00:34:55You don't, you know, you don't challenge it.
00:34:58You don't do anything that can endanger it.
00:35:01You know, you get a set like that, you don't celebrate, you don't get too overexcited because the next one could be dropped.
00:35:06The next set could be nothing.
00:35:07You know, you try not to get too excited.
00:35:09Of course, you got to kind of restrain yourself from grinning because, you know, who could be upset with earning $1,000 in literally 30 minutes of work?
00:35:19But it's exciting.
00:35:20I mean, there's nothing like it.
00:35:22When your net's full and you know it's full, it's a damn good feeling.
00:35:29I mean, you really, that's what you do it for, really.
00:35:32You can grind away all day and get the same amount of fish, but the big sets are just a lot of fun.
00:35:38The efficiency of communication and coordination between the skiff man and the captain is a big factor in the success or failure of a set.
00:35:46They're coming down the hook.
00:35:48If they close the net too soon, they may miss fish that are still swimming in.
00:35:51If they close the net too late, the schooling fish may begin to escape.
00:35:56It is then up to the crew to work quickly to perch the net, which will trap the fish by lifting the bottom of the seine underneath the fish and alongside the boat using weighted rings.
00:36:20The salmon are then completely trapped within the seine.
00:36:29There is no escape.
00:36:30Now the focus is to get the captured fish on deck as soon as possible so that the net can be set again.
00:36:38The same process is done over and over again, up to 18 times a day, as fast as possible for the entire day, for every day of each opening.
00:36:54Here we go.
00:39:25The day is not over.
00:39:26After catching salmon, they must immediately deliver them to a processor or offload onto
00:39:31a packer.
00:39:33Many of these packers are the same boats that fish for craft in the dangerous Bering Sea.
00:39:55A large vacuum is used to suck the salmon onto a conveyor boat where they are sorted by species.
00:40:03There are five species of salmon in Alaska, and each species has a nickname.
00:40:08The Chinook salmon is also known as the king, the coho as a silver, the sockeye as a red,
00:40:16the chum as a dog, and the pink as a hump.
00:40:19It may sound confusing, but each species fetches a different price, so fishermen quickly learn
00:40:26to spot the differences.
00:40:29The salmon are weighed and deposited into the refrigerated belly of the boat.
00:40:33So we had 36 dogs.
00:40:39After collecting salmon from the sanders on the fishing ground, the packers will immediately
00:40:55head for a processing plant.
00:40:57The fishermen, anticipating word on where they'll next be allowed to fish, anchor up and blow
00:41:02off some steam.
00:41:03What's that dog?
00:41:04It falls.
00:41:05Get your can.
00:41:06Whatever.
00:41:07Get that camera off before you're in trouble.
00:41:09It's actually not that cold.
00:41:32Farmed salmon, they're lacking in flavor, they're lacking in juices, they're fed with this grain
00:41:58that's, I don't know what the hell it is, but it sucks.
00:42:01They're penned in a very tight area and they're susceptible to disease.
00:42:05It lays around and it doesn't swim much, its muscles go slack.
00:42:09If you go into like one of the tour shops and you buy one of those rubber fish, those
00:42:13rubber salmon, they kind of look like that.
00:42:15It just looks, they're kind of molded out of something.
00:42:17Growth hormones are a problem and they're a health hazard.
00:42:21It's not a very good product.
00:42:23It's full of disease, it's shot full of dye, chock full of PCBs and terrible chemicals.
00:42:30I wouldn't eat a farmed fish.
00:42:31It is not a healthy beast.
00:42:33And they taste like crap.
00:42:34Yeah, don't eat farmed fish more than once a week.
00:42:37Disease.
00:42:38Disease.
00:42:39Diseases.
00:42:40Disease.
00:42:41Antibiotics.
00:42:42Antibiotics.
00:42:43Pesticides too.
00:42:44It doesn't even taste that good either.
00:42:46It's just bland.
00:42:47Their flesh is a lot softer.
00:42:49A mushy noodle versus one that's prepared right.
00:42:52Their meat's all gray.
00:42:54The flesh is colorless.
00:42:55They inject it full of dyes and they're fatty.
00:42:58It is the worst tasting thing on earth.
00:43:01We'll take the Pepsi challenge any day of the week.
00:43:04They're making people sick who eat them.
00:43:06Salmon farms have popped up along inlets and coals along the entire coast of British Columbia.
00:43:23They now share space in pristine areas with diverse and thriving wildlife.
00:43:30Many of them surround Vancouver Island, which supplies the U.S. and Asian markets with 2.5
00:43:37million kilograms of dressed farmed salmon every week.
00:43:41I ventured to Tofino, B.C. near Clackawet Sound.
00:43:45A beautiful area with dazzling coasts, sandy beaches, old growth forests, abundant wildlife,
00:43:52and 24 fish farms.
00:43:54I alerted farmers of my planned trip and hoped to obtain some interviews, but they said that
00:43:59no one would be available.
00:44:01When I contacted the Friends of Clackawet Sound, an environmental group opposed to fish farms,
00:44:06I was offered a place to stay and a free tour of the Sound.
00:44:10The Friends had planned to dive near a fish farm to capture footage of the effects of the
00:44:15farm on the seabed floor.
00:44:17The farmers were not happy, and I was right there to capture it all.
00:44:40I know we know it was better.
00:44:41Right now.
00:44:42I'm coming out.
00:44:43I'm coming out.
00:44:44I'm coming out.
00:44:45I'm coming out.
00:44:46I'm coming out.
00:44:47Let's call Bolton-Varden Before you do this.
00:44:48Diego, we know what you'd like, that's a lot.
00:44:53I told them two weeks ago about this.
00:44:54I spoke to the Archie Fon Coaster and said it was trespassing or anything from
00:44:59Benjo when you were drawing.
00:45:00We told them two weeks ago about this.
00:45:03I spoke to the Arch-State PTF-1 Coast Guard and noted that it was trespassing or anything.
00:45:09Yes.
00:45:10In the hearing, you spoke to Varney and Ray.
00:45:13Varney and Ray don't have the ultimate authority over what happens within Chief's territory.
00:45:18We have that authority to make that decision.
00:45:21And whether or not they gave you permission to do this, it's probably annoying.
00:45:26As of now, you have no permission to do that in my territory.
00:45:31This is the territory that I hold until such time.
00:45:34How are you?
00:45:35I pass this on to somebody else here.
00:45:38Okay, thank you.
00:45:39Well, we're gonna go anchor up, and I will call Moses as soon as the anchor up.
00:45:43And we're gonna be there with you guys.
00:45:45Okay, that's fine.
00:45:46What's your name?
00:45:56The seas have been overfished.
00:46:06Scientists predict that major seafood stocks will completely collapse by 2048.
00:46:13Up to 90% of the ocean's major predator stocks have already been wiped out.
00:46:19Farming carnivores like salmon are making matters worse.
00:46:23It requires the capture of wild fish to feed the farm-raised salmon.
00:46:28Many people believe that raising farm salmon would leave wild salmon stocks free to sustain themselves.
00:46:36But researchers in Canada have demonstrated that the sea lice that thrive on salmon farms are actually decimating wild salmon runs.
00:46:46Walmart will not sell farmed salmon because it is not a sustainable industry.
00:46:53Salmon farms are plagued with diseases.
00:46:56When a disease breaks out in a farmed population, they are quickly rushed to market.
00:47:02If parasites soften the flesh beyond marketability, they are canned.
00:47:07If the decay is beyond canning, they are left to rot on barges with the maggots.
00:47:18Despite all of the negative factors associated with farm salmon, 90% of the salmon sold in the United States today is farm-raised.
00:47:28Seals and sea lions are also attracted to the farm salmon.
00:47:33Over 5,000 seals and sea lions have been slaughtered.
00:47:38The tide of public opinion is turning against farm salmon, guarding against negative press,
00:47:43salmon farmers patrol surrounding areas to keep people away.
00:47:48We are now inside our tenure.
00:47:52You keep telling us at our table when we see a crash from Prince of Cleggotown,
00:47:56how much do you respect the chief's decisions?
00:47:59The decision that I'm making right now is asking you guys not to proceed with what you're doing here.
00:48:05We have tried very hard for years to protect this region.
00:48:08We all respect the First Nations.
00:48:10Lots of times we don't agree on some particulars.
00:48:13That's not because we don't respect First Nations.
00:48:15And until there's a legal land claim, which hasn't happened,
00:48:20with all respect, whether Cleo Quitt likes or doesn't like the dive,
00:48:24the dive can happen.
00:48:25You can call the cops.
00:48:27We've called the cops.
00:48:28Spencer's called the cops.
00:48:29We are on notice that it's dangerous.
00:48:31We accept that it's dangerous.
00:48:32And we're just going to do it.
00:48:34Well, they spent thousands and thousands of dollars on GFN's request
00:48:39before the entity studies that they didn't have to do.
00:48:42And all we want to do is to show people what's down there.
00:48:49We want to go take video, take some photos, and show people and say,
00:48:52this is what we're talking about.
00:48:53So that when we sit down, we know what we're talking about.
00:48:55I mean, have you been under there?
00:48:57Like, do you know what it looks like?
00:48:58Are you curious what it looks like?
00:48:59It's just information that we want to give people.
00:49:02To show people what is beyond the site, right?
00:49:05Beyond our site right now.
00:49:07We don't know what it looks like.
00:49:08Well, why on a Sunday?
00:49:10Why not on a Sunday?
00:49:11That's the time I'm not working.
00:49:13Until in the morning, I try again.
00:49:15If there's a waiver at this time, that'd be great.
00:49:17Is that available?
00:49:18According to the Friends of Clackow Sound, there are five fundamental flaws to farm salmon.
00:49:36Number one is waste.
00:49:39Salmon farms containing 500,000 to 700,000 fish apiece can discharge untreated feces equivalent to a town of 20,000 people.
00:49:49With 138 fish farms in British Columbia, that's equivalent to 2.8 million people discharging waste straight into the ocean.
00:49:58In addition to feces, farms discharge contaminated feed, toxic chemicals, and artificial colorings.
00:50:05What is that stuff?
00:50:07You know, the only industrial farm really in Canada that's permitted to not treat their waste.
00:50:14The waste of the animals just goes into the ocean.
00:50:17And, you know, people really don't have a good sense of what happens after that.
00:50:23So, this is from the seabed floor.
00:50:25So, because you've got such high densities of fish, they're being fed tons and tons of feed a day.
00:50:30And, that feed goes to the bottom of the sea.
00:50:32And, you've also got the fish feces from the thousands of salmon on the farm.
00:50:36So, the bed turns into marine desert.
00:50:39You've got anoxic sediments.
00:50:41You've got lack of oxygen.
00:50:43And, you've got this horrible black sediment, which stinks.
00:50:47It's polluted.
00:50:48This is symptomatic of a polluted environment.
00:50:51So, this is why we're trying to dive onto the farms to see the impact for ourselves, the impact on the marine life.
00:50:58But, really, under a salmon farm and around a salmon farm, it's like a dead zone.
00:51:04Number 2.
00:51:06Disease and Parasites.
00:51:09Disease is the greatest threat to farmers and has wiped out entire farm populations.
00:51:14The Kodoa Parasite costs BC Farms $30 to $40 million a year.
00:51:19It actually liquefies the flesh of farmed salmon.
00:51:24And, the sea lice from these farms are decimating wild salmon populations.
00:51:30So, for me, to see the sea lice was a big one.
00:51:35You know, none of it, this didn't really hit home.
00:51:37It all seemed, you know, okay, somebody says this, a little hearsay there, a little hearsay there.
00:51:42Oh, there's some scientific reports, sure, you know.
00:51:45But, it wasn't until I was out in the inlet, last year, around the Broughton.
00:51:50And, the researchers were scooping in, like, hundreds and hundreds of these little baby fish.
00:51:56And, every single fish was covered in lice.
00:51:59Like, one or two lice on a juvenile fish is fatal.
00:52:02And, these things had, like, you know, 50 lice.
00:52:05Between 30 and 50 lice.
00:52:07Like, it was just, you know, way beyond the lethal limits.
00:52:10And, all of them were like this.
00:52:12And, I was, I had been kind of joking around that day, like, having a good time.
00:52:16And, it was just one of those moments where I just, it was like, I kind of hit a wall.
00:52:21And, it was like, it felt like I was in the middle of a horror movie.
00:52:26You know, like, this can't be happening.
00:52:28Because, it hit me.
00:52:29You know, that these fish are not going to make it to sea.
00:52:32They're definitely not going to survive to adulthood.
00:52:35These fish are toast.
00:52:37They're not coming back.
00:52:39So, everything here that's going to, that's here because of the salmon.
00:52:43The whales.
00:52:44The bears.
00:52:45The eagles.
00:52:46All, everything else.
00:52:47Like, the millions.
00:52:48The little things.
00:52:49Like, you know, wild salmon are the lifeblood of the coast.
00:52:52That's what everything depends on.
00:52:53Everything.
00:52:54The First Nations.
00:52:55The people.
00:52:56The whole ecosystem.
00:52:57Everything depends on it.
00:52:58Like, I can't even imagine.
00:52:59And, you know, I just, it was happening.
00:53:02You know.
00:53:03And, up until now I've been, oh, something might happen.
00:53:05Something might happen.
00:53:06No.
00:53:07Like, it's happening.
00:53:09Oh.
00:53:1299% of the salmon from six rivers vanished.
00:53:163.6 million spawning salmon dropped to 147,000 in a single generation.
00:53:29Number three.
00:53:30Escapements.
00:53:31Farmed salmon are predominantly Atlantic salmon, a foreign species to the Pacific Ocean.
00:53:38The escaped salmon transfer parasites and disease to wild salmon and compete for breeding ground.
00:53:44The escaped Atlantic's are colonizing basically all our rivers.
00:53:47There are escaped Atlantic's everywhere.
00:53:48Everywhere around here.
00:53:49Around Atleo and around the house of the Atlantic and the rivers.
00:53:53And they come in at the wrong time.
00:53:54They come in later on.
00:53:55They physically trash up the wild reds.
00:53:58And also, in her wisdom, in nature, the wild fish, when they hit the injury, they stop feeding.
00:54:04So, when they hit the rivers, they're not actually consuming smolts or oolican larvae or small baby codfish or whatever.
00:54:12Whereas now, with the farmed escaped Atlantic's, when they're in the rivers, they're munching away on the wild fish.
00:54:19Why do Alaskans care?
00:54:21Well, because salmon travel.
00:54:23Escaped farmed salmon have been found as far north as the Bering Sea.
00:54:27A Chinook salmon tagged in the central Aleutian Islands was captured a year later in the Salmon River, Idaho, 3,500 miles away.
00:54:36Escaped farm Atlantic's have been found attempting to spawn in 80 B.C. river systems, including this one caught in the Scott River.
00:54:46Massive new super farms being built in northern British Columbia are within just 30 miles of Alaska.
00:54:56Number four, toxins and chemicals.
00:55:00Antiparasitics, antifalance, antibiotics, and artificial colorings are all used in farmed salmon.
00:55:07In January 2004, in an article in Science Magazine, a study was presented that found that farmed salmon was contaminated with 14 cancer-causing chemicals.
00:55:18You've got a whole range of ways chemicals are used on farms.
00:55:22There's disinfectants.
00:55:24There's antibiotics.
00:55:25Here in Clackwood Sound, creative salmon used a quarter of a ton of oxytetracycline.
00:55:30That's an antibiotic that humans take as well.
00:55:33There's also sea lice chemicals.
00:55:35Because you've got parasite infestation on salmon farms, because they're crammed at such high densities,
00:55:41salmon farmers, just like cattle farmers, and sheep farmers, and pig farmers, they use chemicals to get rid of these parasites.
00:55:48And there's also artificial colorings, and they go in via the feed.
00:55:52So some of the chemicals are actually used in the feed, and sometimes the farm salmon are bathed in chemicals as well.
00:56:00And then there's injectable vaccines, which are injected into the flesh of the salmon.
00:56:06So this is not a natural product.
00:56:11Number five, sustainability.
00:56:15This is what some call the fatal flaw of farmed salmon.
00:56:20Globally, we have a net loss of protein.
00:56:23Salmon are carnivores.
00:56:25We have to feed them, you know, fish meal, fish oil.
00:56:28I think the industry is somewhere around three kilograms of input to get one kilogram of basically farmed salmon.
00:56:34So producing farmed fish causes a net loss to the world's food supply.
00:56:39It is not producing food, it is reducing the food supply.
00:56:45After diving, the friends of Clackwood Sound toured other farms in the Sound,
00:56:50and their new friends followed them around.
00:56:54They were going to observe the scheduled harvesting of farmed salmon.
00:56:58But the collection boat was sent home, and processors sat idle just because they were there with a camera.
00:57:06Farmers called the cops, who verified that everything the friends had done was within the lock.
00:57:13But the friends returned home to find that they had again been vandalized.
00:57:19Day four.
00:57:20Back in Alaska, the Viking maid anchors up for the night after a long day of fishing.
00:57:31The guys jumped into the skiff to find cell phone range.
00:57:37And on the way out, they saw some whales.
00:57:42floor in Alaska, theγ ΠΊΡΠ°ΠΉ during guerre.
00:57:43This is not 24-70ι lats the commissioner to be part of ahistoric artwork.
00:57:44In our searchers!
00:57:47What I figure it gives you will inspire to come.
00:57:48Alan Donald Moses.
00:57:49What a year is now!
00:57:50Over the root of the contaven deeper.
00:57:51I never really liked the species questions!
00:57:52It's a phase.
00:57:53news?
00:57:54BC G7.
00:57:55This is a phase, it's a phase.
00:57:56It helps to keep alert that outside theΠΎΡΡish bears' GRANDsehen.
00:57:57The monsieur was here to jego pΕed,
00:57:58ΠΎΡΠ²Π΅Ρing with a hoogle on our washed and Baghdadμ¨ from the planet.
00:58:00It's two cαΊ§n phαΊ£i rapidly
00:58:09Strict laws mandate that mariners must stay at least 100 yards away from whales and that
00:58:20people must not stay in the same vicinity for more than 30 minutes.
00:58:25The Viking Maine had spent the entire day participating in a cost recovery.
00:58:30They received no money for the day's work.
00:58:34All the money for the fish went to support the hatchery.
00:58:38They can support hatcheries run by non-profits under state approval because they supplement
00:58:42salmon available to fishermen who are also taking pressure off the wild stocks.
00:59:02On the way back to the cove, the whales moved in closer to check out the skiff.
00:59:07So, let's go.
00:59:09Let's go.
00:59:10Let's go.
00:59:12Let's go.
00:59:14Let's go.
00:59:15Let's go.
00:59:17Let's go.
00:59:19Let's go.
00:59:20Let's go.
00:59:52Day five is a non-fishing day, as dictated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
01:00:10The Viking maid and others travel further north to areas that will be open to fishing the next day.
01:00:15Because of distances traveled, fishermen are many times forced to stay on the fishing grounds between openings.
01:00:22A lot of this time is spent figuring out where to fish next.
01:00:27But the fishermen also get a chance to kick back and soak up all the beauty that surrounds them in southeast Alaska.
01:00:35Conservation of all natural resources is written in the Constitution of the State of Alaska.
01:00:41It is the only state in the Union with a constitutional mandate for preservation of fish and wildlife resources, and the state has done very well.
01:00:52Alaska's is the only wild salmon fisheries program in the world to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as well-managed and sustainable.
01:01:01Since farmed salmon are not considered sustainable and threaten wild salmon, Alaskans adopted legislation in 1990 that banned the practice in the state.
01:01:13Historically, the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game has done a phenomenal job managing the more than 15,000 streams in Alaska while still enabling for strong industry.
01:01:26In the late 80s, Alaskan salmon dominated the U.S. market and had captured over 90% of the Japanese market.
01:01:34But then farmed salmon hit the world stage, and went from producing a mere 1% of the world's supply of salmon to more than 60% in 2002.
01:01:46Farmed salmon from Chile have now captured 70% of the Japanese market, and 90% of all salmon produced in British Columbia are shipped directly to the United States.
01:01:56Farmed fish has dramatically dropped the price of my canned salmon from when I was getting a dollar a pound down to 8 and 9 cents a pound.
01:02:07So the impact of farmed fish has really destructed my livelihood.
01:02:14Pink salmon prices fell from record highs in 1988 of $1.20 a pound to record lows of 9 cents a pound in 2002.
01:02:26In 1987, we had 197,000 pounds of fish for $189,000.
01:02:34Last year, we caught over 2 million pounds for a total gross stock before expenses or any of this stuff, for about $200,000.
01:02:52That's 2 million pounds.
01:02:59As operating costs continued to rise and real prices continued to fall, 37% of fishermen were forced to quit the business.
01:03:10Ward's Cove Cannery in Ketchkent, Alaska closed in the winter of 2002.
01:03:15My story is kind of a, it's not really too different than a lot of guys, but I had my own boat for years, and I got a family of boys, and I've got six boys and one daughter.
01:03:29And I had a dream to, you know, one day take all my kids fishing on the boat, and because of what's happened economically, from the farmed salmon, I call it the farmed salmon fallout,
01:03:46I ended up having to sell my boat, having to sell my house, so, you know, in a sense, your dreams kind of go up in smoke.
01:04:03The Alaskan salmon industry has taken a hit from the emergence of farmed salmon across the globe.
01:04:11Many have been forced to quit the business, and those that remain must catch more fish than ever before.
01:04:17And so a lot of folks lost their jobs, and so the rest of us have had the opportunity to catch more fish, maybe, but at these prices, we certainly haven't made any more money, but we've had to work a little harder.
01:04:36Back to the Viking Maid, which had traveled north from Hidden Falls and had anchored up next to a potential fishing point just south of Basket Bay.
01:04:56The day is spent doing routine maintenance, checking the net, looking for jumps, and checking in with other fishermen.
01:05:06I'm all for trying to make the company make a go of it, but if we can't survive, what's the point?
01:05:20You know, what's the point?
01:05:23You can load your boat and it's not that much money, you know? That's the sad thing about it.
01:05:32There's no money.
01:05:33The thinking early on was, there's no way we can generate the kind of money it's going to take to mount a media campaign to beat up on these guys.
01:05:45If the Alaska salmon industry had something bad to say about beef, for instance, we could be crushed overnight in, you know, one Super Bowl ad or something.
01:05:56And we're not going to pick any fights with somebody that's got a bigger bank account than we do.
01:06:03The farmed salmon industry has a savvy and effective media marketing and advertising campaign.
01:06:10But Alaskan fishermen have seen a lot of factual reporting about farmed salmon in the media.
01:06:15Like Brad Haynes, Russell's nephew, owner and captain of the Yankee.
01:06:22You know, the media is what has helped us all out, you know, just hands down.
01:06:27The media has put the scare in the general consumer about, you know, the dyes and the toxins that go into the farmed salmon.
01:06:35And so, you know, nature's just taking its own course.
01:06:41Actually, farmed salmon suffered kind of its own meltdown.
01:06:46Quality conscious consumer has said, hey, not only is this fish got some problems with it, it doesn't even taste that good either.
01:06:54The side-by-side taste test with the wild salmon is a hands-down winner for Alaska salmon every time.
01:07:04And it's coming back a little bit now, you know, but there's no leaps and bounds.
01:07:09The cost of doing business is huge compared to the increase in what we're getting in salmon.
01:07:16I'm not going to get millions of dollars out of this.
01:07:18I'm going to get a nice family wage, hopefully, hopefully, and be able to continue to do it.
01:07:25I mean, that's what I bought into it for.
01:07:30It is our last day of fishing on board Viking Maine.
01:07:38Mike, how are you today?
01:07:40Good.
01:07:41Are you good?
01:07:43That's really good.
01:07:47Oh, can you hear this for you?
01:07:48Well, you're right in the heat.
01:07:53Do that next step.
01:07:57Ah, doggy.
01:07:59Bowser.
01:08:01Bowser, look at him go.
01:08:03Ow, ow.
01:08:04It's been good to be alive.
01:08:13We're just going to breastline it.
01:08:15It's going to make it pretty heavy.
01:08:17Yeah.
01:08:17Yeah.
01:08:17Yeah.
01:08:18Yeah.
01:08:18That's about 3,000 pounds to start off the day.
01:08:34With Annette back in the water, Jared has time to make a favorite snack using canned salmon.
01:08:40That's the best part.
01:08:41Did you really drink that?
01:08:42Yeah.
01:08:43It's good.
01:08:44It's just like salmon oil.
01:08:45I'm serving for the world.
01:08:46Oh, red salmon and salt.
01:08:47Word call has been shut down.
01:08:48Why?
01:08:49It's where we used to work.
01:08:5025 years.
01:08:51Then they shut down on us.
01:08:52It's where I lived off in college right here.
01:08:58Caucasian.
01:08:59Caucasian.
01:09:00Caucasian.
01:09:01Cockatilly.
01:09:02Fishermen eat salmon all the time.
01:09:03And the amazing thing is, they never seem to get enough of it.
01:09:08They eat a lot of salmon.
01:09:09Sure.
01:09:10I mean, it's fantastic food.
01:09:11It's the best food there is.
01:09:12and it's here every day.
01:09:13You eat salmon now.
01:09:31Use a lot of salmon.
01:09:34I mean, it's fantastic food, it's the best food there is, and it's here every day.
01:09:42I eat salmon or seafood at least six days a week, and sometimes five days a week I'll
01:09:48have it twice a day.
01:09:49There's all kinds of ways you can add spices and complement the salmon flavor, but I guess
01:09:56I like it straight up almost.
01:09:58You can make salmon fettuccine, salmon casserole, or salmon spreads, one of our favorites, you
01:10:04know, just blending in different ways.
01:10:06We grill it, we bake it, put mayonnaise and cheese on it, smoked salmon, dried salmon, baked,
01:10:12broiled, sauteed.
01:10:14We make ceviche out of it, cured lightly and dried, and smoke it and can it.
01:10:18Poaching it's good.
01:10:19The barbecue.
01:10:20We eat salmon raw.
01:10:21Don't ever try to eat it the same way twice.
01:10:23You can even microwave it.
01:10:25The only way you cook salmon is a good way to cook it, as long as wild salmon, you can't
01:10:29go wrong.
01:10:30You know?
01:10:31Don't overcook it.
01:10:32You're fine.
01:10:33The leftovers are the best part for me.
01:10:36The salmon spread is definitely where it's at.
01:10:39You treat it like tuna fish.
01:10:41You do the same thing with it as you would tuna fish, but it's so much better.
01:10:48It tastes so much better than tuna fish does.
01:10:50There's just no competing with Mother Nature when it comes to quality food.
01:10:56The fish that we're producing today fleet-wide is the finest quality fish that's ever been
01:11:03produced.
01:11:04It's an excellent product and, you know, as far as farm compared to wild, you don't compare.
01:11:13If you think that farm fish is similar, it's not.
01:11:18I know fish.
01:11:19Fresh salmon, freshly prepared, it's got a super-wonderful flavor and it just feels richer.
01:11:27It's much nicer than the farm salmon.
01:11:42It's a lot of folks look at Alaska as a big park.
01:11:46It's a beautiful place, but with our technology, we can do industry and different things with
01:11:55the natural resources and do them right.
01:11:58I mean, that's why they were put here, I believe, natural resources.
01:12:01God put trees here, He put minerals here, He put fish here for human beings to utilize.
01:12:10And with our technology, we can utilize these things and still not mess up the environment.
01:12:15That's a proven fact.
01:12:16We can do it.
01:12:17You know, humans are pretty smart, so.
01:12:23It's not about the money.
01:12:25It's about being out here and doing a job, and there's a lot of jobs you can do, but to
01:12:30be out here and to do what we do every day, there's not really anything quite like it.
01:12:39You're not just out here working nine to five in some office.
01:12:44Yeah, okay, it's rough and everything, and there's the upsides and downsides.
01:12:49At the end of the day, you're working hard.
01:12:52You're feeding people.
01:12:55You are seeing beautiful things every day.
01:13:00Every day is something that you just say, wow, I've never seen that before.
01:13:06Really long string coming up.
01:13:08Pretty exciting to see that you've accomplished what you set out to do.
01:13:21You've harnessed the tide, the currents, and you beat Mother Nature taking a few fish away
01:13:26from her.
01:13:27So that's pretty exciting, and it keeps you on your toes trying to do the best.
01:13:42I don't think I could ever leave Alaska.
01:13:46The wide open spaces, you get used to that.
01:13:50The hunting, the fishing, whether it's sport fishing or commercial fishing, it's truly a
01:13:55great place.
01:13:56I don't think I could ever leave.
01:14:01I've visited quite a few different places, and I haven't found any place on earth that
01:14:09I'd rather live, other than Alaska.
01:14:13Alaska is an excellent place to grow up and to raise children.
01:14:21I really enjoy Alaska.
01:14:22I'm glad I grew up here.
01:14:24And I wouldn't trade it for the world.
01:14:27I really wouldn't.
01:14:29I'd love to fish.
01:14:31I'd do it for nothing.
01:14:32No, I would.
01:14:33I'd take that back.
01:14:34I'd do it for, you know, I've done it for less, to say that.
01:14:39Margarita time.
01:14:56Looking at the rest of, you know, I've been to Mexico, and I've been on the east coast
01:15:02of the U.S. and a lot of other places around, we're pretty spoiled up here.
01:15:09I mean, we are real spoiled.
01:15:12But I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
01:15:15I mean, it's just, where else can you do this?
01:15:18I mean, what a view.
01:15:19You know, a room with a view.
01:15:22It's, but you have to like the outdoors, you know.
01:15:27It's an adventure just being alive.
01:15:29It's, you really have to like the outdoors.
01:15:32We got fish jumping right here, going south.
01:15:35But it's, um, it's home.
01:15:44I think it's a good place to grow up.
01:15:46I mean, it's beautiful.
01:15:47You don't have to deal with the city too much.
01:15:49I mean, Ketchikan is kind of turning into a, whatever, city, more city than outdoorsy place.
01:15:57But you can still go hike the trails and see the mountains and the ocean.
01:16:02That's the thing I needed the most, is the ocean.
01:16:04I can't live where there's no ocean around, so.
01:16:07Just keep, keep reading them health books and keep watching the health TV show and just, uh, believe what they say about the wild salmon and how great it is for you.
01:16:29Keep me, keep me in with the job.
01:16:35Eat fish.
01:16:36Eat fish.
01:16:37There's real people out here catching them and they're good.
01:16:40And there's lots of them.
01:16:41So whenever you eat a wild fish from the state of Alaska, don't be afraid you're eating an endangered species because that's far from the truth.
01:16:52Far from the truth.
01:16:53Come on up and see.
01:16:54I'll take you for a ride.
01:16:55We'll show you some fish.
01:16:56That's the end of our trip on board the Viking Maid.
01:17:13Russell and the crew will head down to Petersburg to offload salmon and then head back down to catch camp for another opening.
01:17:22For them, the season has just begun and they're hoping for many, many more to come.
01:17:30But that won't happen unless everyone out there starts eating some wild Alaskan salmon.
01:17:36So on behalf of all the fishing vessels and all of the fishermen involved in the Alaskan salmon industry, to protect the only sustainable salmon fishery in the world, which is also constitutionally state mandated to protect salmon, to protect the environment, and to protect your own health against the encroachment of farmed salmon.
01:17:58Be sure to eat only wild Alaskan salmon.
01:18:03And keep in mind a favorite Alaskan slogan, friends don't let friends eat farmed fish.
01:18:11Thanks for watching.
01:18:13I hope you enjoyed the show.
01:18:41I hope you enjoyed the show.
01:18:43Thanks for watching.
01:18:47Bye.
01:18:54Bye.
01:18:59Bye.
01:19:02Bye.
01:19:06We'll see you next time.
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