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00:00:00 (boat engine)
00:00:02 - Okay, I got a coast report for you over.
00:00:04 Kenny just checked in on the satellite there.
00:00:06 Coast over.
00:00:07 - I think he's a tender.
00:00:10 - He had six fish in his first set, over.
00:00:13 Six fish, two sockeyes, three dogs, one a pink.
00:00:18 - What a bummer.
00:00:22 Good times coming.
00:00:23 All right, good time will get there when it's over.
00:00:26 - Yeah, I know.
00:00:29 That's what I looked at.
00:00:29 To get tight.
00:00:30 To get them in tight, this will be out there.
00:00:33 So anyways.
00:00:34 (laughs)
00:00:35 Oh, I got a dog inside.
00:00:36 Holy shit, it's a sockeye.
00:00:38 I got a curl in.
00:00:39 Look at him go.
00:00:41 You got three times.
00:00:42 Man, fish like your voice.
00:00:45 You stay right there.
00:00:46 Fish love your voice.
00:00:48 (dramatic music)
00:00:51 (gunshots)
00:00:53 (dramatic music)
00:00:56 (dramatic music)
00:00:58 (dramatic music)
00:01:01 - It's a little bit more dangerous, I guess,
00:01:28 'cause you're right next to the deck winch
00:01:29 and lots of people get hurt doing that.
00:01:31 But you just gotta be careful.
00:01:32 Gotta be paying attention.
00:01:34 That's the main part about fishing.
00:01:36 You always gotta be paying attention.
00:01:39 'Cause, I mean, you could kill yourself doing this.
00:01:42 (dramatic music)
00:01:45 - Pull the net to the beach
00:01:55 or we're doing open toes offshore.
00:01:57 I just, I work together with the skipper
00:02:00 and we try to corral the fish.
00:02:02 (dramatic music)
00:02:06 - This is actually my first year.
00:02:11 Actually, this is my third trip out.
00:02:13 So I'm a greenhorn.
00:02:16 As they like to call us.
00:02:19 (dramatic music)
00:02:27 - Yeah, I work the cork and the web.
00:02:29 And I work the tow line.
00:02:31 Tow line is where we hook up the skips
00:02:33 so we don't drift.
00:02:35 So we stay away from the shore.
00:02:37 (dramatic music)
00:02:39 (indistinct)
00:02:42 (dramatic music)
00:02:55 (indistinct)
00:02:57 - It sounds real adventuresome
00:03:00 to some of these young fellows,
00:03:01 you know, until they come out and do it
00:03:02 and find out it's actual work.
00:03:04 You know, and we haven't even begun the season.
00:03:08 You know, it's not, it's not gotten crazy yet.
00:03:11 When we start fishing two on, two off
00:03:14 or four on and one off,
00:03:16 then it really gets to be a drag.
00:03:19 I mean, it's a grind.
00:03:20 (dramatic music)
00:03:25 (fire crackling)
00:03:28 (dramatic music)
00:03:31 (upbeat music)
00:03:47 (upbeat music)
00:03:50 (upbeat music)
00:03:52 (upbeat music)
00:03:55 (upbeat music)
00:03:57 (upbeat music)
00:04:08 (upbeat music)
00:04:17 (upbeat music)
00:04:20 - It looks just like a cancer.
00:04:34 The flesh is completely falling away from itself.
00:04:39 I had a case down there that was so bad
00:04:42 that I cut one fillet off of the side of the fish,
00:04:46 got halfway through the other side
00:04:47 and held it up and the fillet completely peeled off
00:04:50 the rest of the bone.
00:04:51 - According to the United States EPA guidelines,
00:04:56 consumption of more than one serving
00:04:59 of farmed salmon per month
00:05:00 could pose unacceptable cancer risks.
00:05:04 - I manage a seafood department right now
00:05:07 in a grocery store.
00:05:08 And the disgusting part of it is those fish
00:05:10 are going to people at these high-end restaurants
00:05:13 or any restaurant for that matter.
00:05:15 And people are eating that
00:05:16 and they're not aware of what they're eating.
00:05:18 - It's also hurting all the fishermen
00:05:23 because these engineered fish are taking over the market.
00:05:28 Everyone's buying them 'cause they're so much cheaper.
00:05:33 And it's a real problem.
00:05:34 I'm afraid that it's gonna take over
00:05:38 and my way of life is gonna go away.
00:05:41 (upbeat music)
00:05:47 - Ketchikan is a small town nestled along the shoreline
00:05:52 of a vast flooded mountain range
00:05:54 that makes up Southeast Alaska.
00:05:55 Surrounded by ocean fjords and national forest,
00:05:59 Ketchikan's unique location was founded
00:06:02 and its roots and history rest
00:06:04 on the abundant wild Pacific salmon.
00:06:06 In 1885, an Irishman named Mike Martin
00:06:12 purchased 160 acres of land
00:06:14 from an Indian named Paper Nose Charlie.
00:06:16 The land included a salmon stream nicknamed Fish Creek.
00:06:22 Its Tlingit Indian name translates
00:06:24 to the spread wings of an eagle
00:06:26 and it became Ketchikan's namesake.
00:06:28 Salmon saltries began production followed by canneries.
00:06:33 And in the year 1900, with a population of 800,
00:06:37 the town became a city.
00:06:38 Trolling for salmon began on a small scale in 1903
00:06:43 and canneries continued to expand in size and number.
00:06:46 1912, Ward's Cove Cannery was established
00:06:51 and in 1913, Ketchikan Cold Storage was built
00:06:55 with a capacity to produce 70 tons of ice
00:06:58 and storage capacity of over 7,500,000 pounds.
00:07:03 The halibut industry began to boom
00:07:05 and by 1930, more than 150 halibut boats
00:07:09 and 1,000 salmon boats called Ketchikan home.
00:07:13 These fishermen maintained a steady supply of seafood
00:07:16 for the 13 canneries and cold storages
00:07:19 that had by then been established.
00:07:20 The industry underwent trials and tribulations.
00:07:24 Fish pirates raged against fish traps
00:07:27 and federal mismanagement eventually gave way
00:07:30 to state regulation.
00:07:31 The wild Alaskan salmon that had supported
00:07:35 indigenous peoples for thousands of years
00:07:38 and that gave life to the city of Ketchikan
00:07:41 remains an important part of the town's identity.
00:07:44 Despite 120 years of commercial fishing,
00:07:49 Alaska maintains the only healthy
00:07:52 and sustainable salmon fishery in the world.
00:07:55 - In the 1990s and the early 2000
00:08:02 have been the highest catches and escapements
00:08:05 in the history of Alaska.
00:08:06 So we're off the scale in terms of the production
00:08:11 of wild stocks and the aquaculture programs as well.
00:08:15 And we have an extremely dedicated crew of biologists
00:08:19 that work for the state that work tremendous hours
00:08:22 to see to it that it's managed properly.
00:08:25 They do a tremendous job.
00:08:26 - They're as healthy now as they've ever been.
00:08:31 If not healthier, in fact, the Chinook stocks
00:08:33 on the mainland are healthier than we've seen them.
00:08:36 I've been on the Chinook Technical Committee
00:08:38 of the Pacific Salmon Commission for years
00:08:40 and we've been dealing with rebuilding the stocks
00:08:43 to their historic levels.
00:08:47 And in most cases, we're up over the natural escapements
00:08:50 that we're looking for and everything's
00:08:52 as healthy as it's been.
00:08:53 So I would say in general,
00:08:55 it's probably the healthiest fishery in the world right now.
00:08:58 It's got a real bright future.
00:09:01 I don't see any wild problems anywhere.
00:09:05 Over the years, rules and regulations have really
00:09:09 been put in place to protect salmon streams.
00:09:11 And I'd say by and large here in Southeast Alaska,
00:09:14 we have, as I said, almost pristine spawning grounds
00:09:17 for the salmon.
00:09:18 And we've been very fortunate
00:09:20 that we've had very good marine survivals.
00:09:22 Just the natural survival we've had
00:09:25 over the last 20 to 25 years has been wonderful.
00:09:28 And because we do manage the fisheries to assure escapement,
00:09:35 we've been able to take advantage
00:09:37 of the great marine survivals.
00:09:38 And yeah, we have more fish right now
00:09:41 than we know what to do with up here.
00:09:42 - At first!
00:09:48 - Yeah, that's been a lot of fun having Jared.
00:09:50 It's, he's been on this,
00:09:52 on with his fishing since he was about eight.
00:09:54 - It's pretty much a family, family industry.
00:09:57 It's kind of goes down from generation to generation.
00:10:00 I might be next, unless I find a good land job.
00:10:04 - Ron, my skiff man, is born and raised in Cholmley Sound,
00:10:09 which is an island on Prince of Wales Island.
00:10:12 And he's a mountain man, born out of his time period.
00:10:17 And he's a full-time commercial fisherman.
00:10:20 - I longline halibut, black cod, Pacific cod.
00:10:24 I've done some shrimping.
00:10:28 I haven't done that for a few years.
00:10:29 I've done a little herring fishing.
00:10:32 And Kodiak Tanner fish, which is a crab.
00:10:35 And salmon.
00:10:39 - Jason, he's, I've known him since he was real little.
00:10:45 And he's been bugging me for years,
00:10:46 high school kid that just been bugging me and bugging me.
00:10:50 And so I said, I finally took him up, said, okay, let's go.
00:10:54 - First trip, I got sick.
00:10:56 Second trip, hurt my arm.
00:10:58 Then this trip, I got sunburned really bad.
00:11:02 My goal for the next trip is not to get hurt at all.
00:11:04 - The one slot Mike is filling,
00:11:08 that slot's been filled for six years.
00:11:10 It's just by happenstance, mostly,
00:11:12 that if we need a guy and one of the other crewmen
00:11:17 knows of somebody that we want to give a chance,
00:11:20 we'll give them a chance.
00:11:21 But it's, I don't go shopping for salmon crew members.
00:11:30 - Day one on board the Viking Maid.
00:11:32 The crew is the first to arrive on board.
00:11:36 They don't know where they are going or when,
00:11:38 but there's always work to be done
00:11:40 and always supplies to be bought.
00:11:42 - Do you have cream or milk?
00:11:44 - Oh, chocolate milk.
00:11:45 - We're not getting chocolate milk.
00:11:48 - Where they go is always a mystery
00:11:50 until Russell brings word.
00:11:52 - Yesterday, McAllister did a test set at Hawkey
00:11:54 and went 70-some thousand pounds.
00:11:58 - Well, I'm gonna make an announcement this afternoon
00:12:00 and we'll decide which way we're going.
00:12:02 - Only certain areas will be open to fishing
00:12:05 and of those areas, fishermen pick a spot
00:12:08 based on past experience, time of year,
00:12:10 weather, gut feelings, instinct, and superstition.
00:12:14 Many captains are so superstitious and secretive
00:12:17 that not even their crews are given a clue
00:12:19 as to where they are going,
00:12:20 because in fishing, who's catching what and where
00:12:23 is very important.
00:12:24 (upbeat music)
00:12:27 Time to get down to the business of fishing.
00:12:34 - Right at north, to Hidden Falls, possibly.
00:12:40 - To Hidden Falls.
00:12:43 - Hidden Falls.
00:12:44 - To Hidden Falls, which is a terminal harvest area
00:12:48 to chase some chum salmon.
00:12:50 It's an opening up there on Sunday.
00:12:54 It's probably like a 20-hour boat ride here up the beach.
00:12:57 - Walk through here, up through here,
00:12:59 up through Wrangel Narrows by Petersburg,
00:13:01 across Frederick Sound, down Gardner,
00:13:03 up by Hidden Falls and Chatham Straits.
00:13:06 Here's Juneau over here, this is Sitka out here,
00:13:11 and this is Petersburg.
00:13:12 - It's kind of like a shootout.
00:13:16 Yeah, there could be about 100 boats in a seven,
00:13:23 eight mile area, so it's gonna be real crowded, real crazy.
00:13:27 A lot of boats dodging and weaving.
00:13:30 It's pretty entertaining, really.
00:13:36 A lot of guys scratching and clawing for a good set of chums.
00:13:41 - Hopefully it should be good fishing, but yeah,
00:13:47 it should be, we'll get a boat load.
00:13:49 - Oh, I've been at this too long to get too excited,
00:13:52 but we've had sets as big as 50,000 pounds before,
00:13:57 which is half a boat load in one set.
00:14:01 - So it'll be fun.
00:14:03 Like, didn't a couple boats run into each other
00:14:07 that year too?
00:14:08 - Boat rolled over.
00:14:10 - That's what happened.
00:14:12 Or was it some guy got hit by the main tow line?
00:14:15 - Yeah, a helicopter came and medevaced a guy
00:14:17 off a back deck, tow line snapped.
00:14:20 - Yeah, it was crazy.
00:14:21 - That was the day we had the 50,000 pound set.
00:14:24 We couldn't get it aboard, took us two hours.
00:14:26 Remember that?
00:14:27 - That was our first set of the season, wasn't it?
00:14:29 - First set of the year.
00:14:30 Yeah, our very first set of the year, 50,000 pounds.
00:14:33 - It was Timmy's and Jeff's first year
00:14:36 and we had to braille them all out.
00:14:37 - Yeah, they didn't know what a brailler was.
00:14:39 - I remember hitting Timmy with the end of that brailler
00:14:42 like every time.
00:14:43 Sorry, Timmy.
00:14:46 (laughing)
00:14:48 - Yeah, we went in there and we were going
00:14:51 around the starboard side of Cain River.
00:14:54 (water rushing)
00:14:57 - There's people that will try it
00:15:05 and then never do it again.
00:15:07 And there's people that'll do it and love it
00:15:08 and keep doing it, I would say, you know what I mean?
00:15:11 And then there's dudes that'll come in
00:15:12 and work for a week and be like, I'm out of here.
00:15:14 I'm not, you know, this is not my gig.
00:15:17 - It's almost impossible.
00:15:19 You take all these different personalities
00:15:22 and you shove them on a 58 foot boat
00:15:24 and try to make sure they get along
00:15:25 and plus teach them a job that they'll luckily get in a year
00:15:30 and you only have about a week to teach them it.
00:15:32 - Guys, you always gotta be telling them what to do
00:15:34 and they just sit there staring at their hands all day.
00:15:38 You know, guys like that really piss me off.
00:15:40 - You know, guys aren't gonna make it.
00:15:42 Like, I think there's a guy on Gary's boat now,
00:15:44 the guy who's running the hydraulics.
00:15:46 I don't think, I think he's gonna quit
00:15:47 as soon as he gets back to Ketchikan.
00:15:49 I don't know if Gary knows that now,
00:15:50 but the other kid was telling me that.
00:15:53 But yeah, so there'd be like crew members.
00:15:56 You can constantly go through them.
00:15:58 - We went through six guys, so you know,
00:16:01 they don't mess around.
00:16:02 You screw up, you're done.
00:16:03 We'll take you back to town, drop you off
00:16:05 or sometimes if you piss the captain off enough,
00:16:08 it'll drop you off on the nearest packer.
00:16:09 You don't even make it back to town.
00:16:11 - It's working on a boat.
00:16:13 I mean, it's something you can do, anybody can do,
00:16:18 but not everybody can.
00:16:19 - Early the next morning, the Viking Maid
00:16:27 reaches the Wrangel Narrows,
00:16:29 nicknamed Christmas Tree Lane.
00:16:31 More than 70 navigational aids light up
00:16:34 the 21-mile stretch of narrow waterway passage.
00:16:37 In some places, it is only 100 yards wide.
00:16:42 Its average depth is only 19 to 22 feet,
00:16:45 and navigating its passage requires
00:16:47 at least 46 nautical course changes.
00:16:50 At the northern edge of Wrangel Narrows
00:17:03 is another small fishing town, Petersburg,
00:17:06 and one of the processing plants, Ocean Beauty.
00:17:09 Russell makes a quick stop to pick up an announcement
00:17:12 provided by the Department of Fish and Game
00:17:14 who regulate the fishermen.
00:17:16 - Just gonna grab any one of these pylons here.
00:17:18 If we see a lot of fish entering,
00:17:26 we'll give the fishermen two or three or four days to fish,
00:17:29 but if things don't look good
00:17:31 or if certain areas don't look good,
00:17:33 we won't allow them to fish in that area
00:17:35 or we'll cut back in time.
00:17:37 The news release will announce time and area
00:17:39 for the whole region because we coordinate
00:17:42 all the openings throughout the region
00:17:44 and we're not opening up a couple days here in Ketchikan
00:17:47 and then a couple days in Petersburg.
00:17:48 Everything's open at the same time.
00:17:49 - So they kinda control the fleet movement that way
00:17:53 so they don't get the whole fleet piling into one area.
00:17:56 It's worked real well, and of course, over time,
00:18:00 they've had a lot of practice at it.
00:18:03 Since statehood, they've gotten really good.
00:18:06 - Now, since we all understand how safe
00:18:08 the future of these salmon are,
00:18:10 the Viking Maid can continue northward
00:18:12 to harvest a few of them.
00:18:13 As we cross Frederick Sound,
00:18:15 we are entering larger bodies of water
00:18:17 that are not as difficult to maneuver in as the straits.
00:18:20 These waters, however, represent a much more dangerous
00:18:23 element than big tides.
00:18:25 These waters are subject to heavy winds and big seas.
00:18:29 Depending on experience,
00:18:30 fishermen have seen various sizes of waves.
00:18:32 It's really hard for me to say.
00:18:37 I'd say I've definitely seen 20-foot seas.
00:18:41 It's possible they've been a little bigger.
00:18:43 - I don't know, probably 20-footers.
00:18:47 I'm imagining, I don't really know.
00:18:50 - I've seen probably 30, 35-foot seas.
00:18:52 - Probably close to 30-footers.
00:18:55 I don't know, I couldn't get a tape measure out at the time.
00:18:57 I was rather busy.
00:18:58 You just sit there and idle into 'em, you know,
00:19:05 hopefully your windows hold.
00:19:07 But it's not fun, you know?
00:19:11 But it happens.
00:19:12 - Sanders don't hesitate to fish in five to six-foot seas.
00:19:23 It's not fun or easy, but whenever there is an opening,
00:19:27 fishermen want to fish.
00:19:29 - Like the roughest I think I've ever fished in
00:19:33 as far as sanding goes is probably about 15-footers.
00:19:36 They're a nice swell, nice ocean swell.
00:19:39 We are over at McLean's Arm.
00:19:41 My dad goes and wakes us all up again or something.
00:19:44 He took us back out there and it was a nice swell.
00:19:47 It was rocking back pretty tough.
00:19:50 We got it back and I think we only had like
00:19:52 maybe a thousand pounds, a couple thousand pounds.
00:19:54 So we just had to go test it out,
00:19:56 see if there was anything out there.
00:19:58 - Well, in the rough weather, things get a little trickier
00:20:02 'cause then you really got a lot of weight swinging.
00:20:05 The net goes way up, way up above the deck
00:20:09 before it comes back down at you.
00:20:11 And when the waves are heavy and the wind is blowing,
00:20:14 that sand is blowing all over the place
00:20:16 and you got to hang on to it.
00:20:18 Sometimes it'll pick you up and make you fly around,
00:20:21 but you got to keep a steady grip on it
00:20:23 and keep throwing it down.
00:20:24 - Hauling gear one time in the heat of the battle,
00:20:26 you know, you get a little close to the beach,
00:20:28 things get crazy.
00:20:29 I mean, it's, and it's a deal of odds.
00:20:32 I mean, you're going to have a disaster.
00:20:34 It's just your odds, you know, are totally against you.
00:20:37 Oh yeah, I've salvaged a few, a few accidents
00:20:45 and they're always sad, but they do happen.
00:20:49 I mean, it's just inevitable.
00:20:50 Something, something happens.
00:20:53 It's, I've been on a couple of different salvage operations
00:20:56 where we had to go retrieve a boat
00:20:59 that was an unfortunate accident, so.
00:21:03 (dramatic music)
00:21:06 - Commercial fishing is one of the most
00:21:08 dangerous occupations in the world,
00:21:10 particularly when done in the sporadic seas of Alaska.
00:21:14 Every year, the fishing community is reminded of this
00:21:18 when something goes wrong and a boat doesn't come home.
00:21:21 - Nav tech programs, noble tech programs,
00:21:25 computers, high tech fathometers, radars,
00:21:29 all this new stuff and it's a lot safer than it ever was.
00:21:33 But it's, there's a lot of rocks out there,
00:21:35 but you really have to pay attention.
00:21:37 You know, a lot of uncharted rocks.
00:21:38 - From Wrangler Narrows, the Viking made traveled
00:21:47 from Frederick Sound up Chatham Straits
00:21:50 and onto Tecate's Bay, just south of Hidden Falls
00:21:54 and 80 nautical miles from Petersburg.
00:21:57 The number of boats they could see rises quickly.
00:22:00 Many boats are already gathering to look for jumps
00:22:03 and trying to find the best spot
00:22:05 for the first set of the next morning.
00:22:07 As they search for the perfect location,
00:22:10 these fishermen are also very anxious to find out
00:22:13 what their competitors might or might not know.
00:22:16 As a result, it is not uncommon to see a couple of boats
00:22:19 pulled up alongside each other.
00:22:21 - Yeah, we're lost.
00:22:22 What about you?
00:22:23 - I'd be lost.
00:22:25 I'd like to have this bay just me and you.
00:22:28 When you showed up at the right time.
00:22:31 - It's also the camaraderie with the other boats.
00:22:35 We have groups of us that work kind of together.
00:22:38 So we're always on the radio yik-yak and stuff like that.
00:22:40 And it's, it beats working for a living, you know?
00:22:45 - Yeah, I mean, you know, yeah.
00:22:47 And so, I mean, this could be really good up here too.
00:22:49 It sounds like shit, there ain't no boats.
00:22:52 - 122 last time and I haven't seen 10 new players.
00:22:57 I mean, this fleet could be less than 200.
00:23:00 - Yeah, it's supposed to be,
00:23:03 except 100 are right here.
00:23:05 - Cooking grass, man.
00:23:08 - Holy shit, you got a nine-incher.
00:23:12 - Pulling grass.
00:23:13 - That's amazing.
00:23:16 - Nice. - That's a spunky one there.
00:23:19 - Yeah.
00:23:20 - That's a good one.
00:23:21 - It's gonna be loaded with boats in here.
00:23:32 It's gonna suck.
00:23:34 It'll be like a little hidden vault or something.
00:23:37 - Yeah.
00:23:38 - Go home.
00:23:40 Tell Ocean Beauty that we don't wanna fish up here
00:23:44 too much longer.
00:23:45 Go back to the regular spots.
00:23:49 Get to see the girlfriend every once in a while.
00:23:52 That's about it.
00:23:56 - Everything that you like and you want is not here.
00:24:00 I mean, my girlfriend is not here.
00:24:03 Three months of the year, you know,
00:24:06 three and a half, say maybe four months a year,
00:24:08 I don't see her.
00:24:10 You know, I get some garbled up phone call
00:24:12 and once in a while maybe can shoot off an email
00:24:15 and whatever, I don't know what she's doing.
00:24:17 She doesn't know what I'm doing.
00:24:19 I don't see her.
00:24:20 You know, I'm lonely out here.
00:24:21 It's the middle of nowhere.
00:24:23 You're with a bunch of guys who you get sick of
00:24:25 after three weeks and that's all you see
00:24:27 is the same four faces every day.
00:24:30 There's no warmth.
00:24:31 There's no niceties.
00:24:35 - It can be hard, you know, at times,
00:24:37 you know, little hours of sleep.
00:24:38 And, you know, but it's, you know,
00:24:44 I wouldn't wanna be doing anything else, you know.
00:24:46 Any other job, no way.
00:24:47 - I think this wind will blow,
00:24:51 hopefully blow these fish up here.
00:24:55 This right here is where Gary had,
00:24:57 right on this corner of this island wrong yesterday,
00:25:00 he had three sets for 85,000.
00:25:03 He had one set for 40,000, he said on a 20 minute tow
00:25:06 on the flood yesterday morning.
00:25:08 - Jumps.
00:25:09 - He said, yeah, yeah, there's jumps.
00:25:11 And he had jumps yesterday, so.
00:25:13 So far, there's not very many boats here,
00:25:15 so about, looked like to me about 15 boats.
00:25:20 So Gary said a lot of those guys,
00:25:23 or six of those guys didn't even have gear on,
00:25:25 nets on when he left.
00:25:26 They were still, but yeah, it's,
00:25:31 we'll find out more tomorrow.
00:25:38 - Before fishing, the power skiff
00:25:39 has to be dropped down into the water,
00:25:42 fueled up and run for several hours
00:25:44 to make sure it is ready to go fishing,
00:25:46 first thing the next morning.
00:25:47 The deckhands have to look over the net several times
00:25:51 to make sure there are no holes.
00:25:53 Any hole in the net could mean lost fish and lost money.
00:25:57 So everything has to be in tip top shape.
00:26:00 (upbeat music)
00:26:04 (boat engine roaring)
00:26:07 Prior to statehood, Alaskan salmon runs
00:26:24 were severely damaged by federal mismanagement
00:26:28 and by corporate fish traps
00:26:29 that decimated salmon populations.
00:26:33 When Alaska became a state, fish traps were banned
00:26:36 and salmon were granted constitutional protection.
00:26:38 Fishermen in Alaska are not allowed to catch fish
00:26:43 until or unless enough salmon enter the streams
00:26:47 to guarantee healthy reproduction.
00:26:48 (upbeat music)
00:26:57 (metal clanging)
00:27:01 (upbeat music)
00:27:04 (metal clanging)
00:27:07 (upbeat music)
00:27:14 (dramatic music)
00:27:33 (boat engine roaring)
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00:28:11 (boat engine roaring)
00:28:17 (dramatic music)
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00:28:33 (dramatic music)
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00:28:39 (dramatic music)
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00:29:39 (dramatic music)
00:29:42 (dramatic music)
00:29:58 (dramatic music)
00:30:07 (dramatic music)
00:30:09 (water splashing)
00:30:27 (water splashing)
00:30:30 (water splashing)
00:30:33 (water splashing)
00:30:59 (water splashing)
00:31:02 - Big loads of fish.
00:31:04 (laughs)
00:31:06 Deck loads, that's my favorite job.
00:31:08 My favorite part of the job is deck loads by far.
00:31:10 - You can't get 'em all on deck at once.
00:31:14 So you get a big wave,
00:31:15 and then you're dumping that back in,
00:31:17 you pull up another big old wave,
00:31:19 and you're just like, "Yeah, that's more money."
00:31:22 And then another one comes in,
00:31:23 and you're just like, "Yeah, look at all that fish."
00:31:26 And you just gotta come and see it.
00:31:30 - It just makes a whole week worthwhile
00:31:33 when you get a nice big set of fish,
00:31:36 come pouring on deck,
00:31:38 and when the whole deck's filled up to your knees of fish.
00:31:41 That's the best part.
00:31:44 - The whole fishing thing is like a big game, I mean.
00:31:51 Usually we're on the top end of things,
00:31:53 'cause we got that guy out there.
00:31:55 - It's us against the other guy, the other boat, you know,
00:31:57 and it's like a professional sport.
00:32:01 And it's the competition life.
00:32:03 - That's why I tell the new guys that come on board,
00:32:06 I say, "This is a sport."
00:32:08 We're a team.
00:32:09 We're a five-man team.
00:32:11 We're only as good as our weakest link.
00:32:13 So, we start 'em off slow,
00:32:16 and then by a couple weeks,
00:32:19 or, you know, maybe 40, 50 sets,
00:32:22 I expect to be up to high speed.
00:32:24 (upbeat music)
00:32:26 - Everybody's out there gossiping on their CB all day long.
00:32:40 That's a part of the game.
00:32:42 It's a very complex and complicated game out there.
00:32:45 So, all day long, you're hearing rumors,
00:32:47 you're hearing hearsay,
00:32:49 everyone's chatting, everyone's gossiping
00:32:51 about what other boats are doing,
00:32:53 what else is going on,
00:32:54 what other spots are firing off.
00:32:56 Some captains purchase VHFs with secure lines on them
00:33:00 so that no one else can tap into it,
00:33:02 and they can communicate on secure radio lines,
00:33:04 and no one else can pirate into their conversations.
00:33:07 It's that cutthroat, it's that competitive.
00:33:09 - Run!
00:33:10 - Come on, there's wide jumps right here.
00:33:12 You see 'em?
00:33:13 - Move.
00:33:14 - When I say yes, you gotta move.
00:33:16 - Keep moving.
00:33:17 - I mean, there's guys that just drive, drive, drive, drive,
00:33:20 are really hard drivers,
00:33:21 and other ones that are more relaxed and laid back.
00:33:25 I used to be crazy,
00:33:27 but anymore, I've gotten to look at the big picture,
00:33:29 and just, I mean, people pay thousands of dollars for this,
00:33:34 and we get paid to do it,
00:33:35 which is really a treat.
00:33:37 - Second set.
00:33:43 The first set was decent,
00:33:46 but the course of the day is still uncertain.
00:33:48 (gears clicking)
00:33:51 It is usually these early morning sets
00:33:58 that make or break a day,
00:33:59 so tensions remain high.
00:34:02 Speed is of the essence.
00:34:04 Even as the second set is hauled aboard,
00:34:06 the skipper and skiff man are in constant communication.
00:34:09 Sam and Jump, through the use of hand gestures,
00:34:14 the two relay the number and style of jumps they can see
00:34:17 in order to try and quickly determine
00:34:19 where the most fish are concentrated
00:34:21 and which direction they will be moving for the next set.
00:34:25 Once a decision has been made,
00:34:27 the saying has to be said again
00:34:28 before another boat can beat them to it.
00:34:30 (water splashing)
00:34:35 - I used to jump around and work and, you know,
00:34:44 scream, get real excited when I saw a bunch of fish
00:34:48 pulling over the side of the boat.
00:34:49 You look around and everyone,
00:34:51 all the seasoned fishermen are stone cold
00:34:53 because you don't press your luck.
00:34:55 You don't, you know, you don't challenge it.
00:34:58 You don't do anything that can endanger it.
00:35:01 You know, you get a set like that,
00:35:02 you don't celebrate, you don't get too overexcited
00:35:04 because the next one could be dry.
00:35:06 The next set could be nothing.
00:35:07 You know, you try not to get too excited.
00:35:08 Of course, you gotta kind of restrain yourself
00:35:11 and grinning because who could be upset
00:35:14 with earning a thousand dollars
00:35:16 in literally 30 minutes of work?
00:35:18 - But it's exciting.
00:35:20 I mean, there's nothing like it.
00:35:21 When your net's full and you know it's full,
00:35:24 it's a dang good feeling.
00:35:28 I mean, you really, that's what you do it for, really.
00:35:31 You can grind away all day and get the same amount of fish,
00:35:34 but the big sets are just a lot of fun.
00:35:37 - The efficiency of communication and coordination
00:35:40 between the skiff man and the captain
00:35:42 is a big factor in the success or failure of a set.
00:35:46 - They're coming down the hook.
00:35:47 - If they close the net too soon,
00:35:49 they may miss fish that are still swimming in.
00:35:51 If they close the net too late,
00:35:53 the schooling fish may begin to escape.
00:36:10 It is then up to the crew to work quickly
00:36:12 to purse the net, which will trap the fish
00:36:14 by lifting the bottom of the seine underneath the fish
00:36:17 and alongside the boat using weighted rings.
00:36:20 The salmon are then completely trapped within the seine.
00:36:29 There's no escape.
00:36:30 Now the focus is to get the captured fish on deck
00:36:35 as soon as possible so that the net can be set again.
00:36:39 (boat engine roaring)
00:36:42 The same process is done over and over again,
00:36:47 up to 18 times a day, as fast as possible for the entire day,
00:36:51 for every day of each opening.
00:36:53 (boat engine roaring)
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00:38:48 (boat engine roaring)
00:39:01 (dramatic music)
00:39:11 (boat engine roaring)
00:39:14 That's it.
00:39:18 After working for 12 hours, considered a short day,
00:39:21 the fishing is done.
00:39:22 But as a crew member, the day is not over.
00:39:26 After catching salmon, they must immediately deliver them
00:39:28 to a processor or offload onto a packer.
00:39:31 Many of these packers are the same boats
00:39:34 that fish for crab in the dangerous Bering Sea.
00:39:37 (dramatic music)
00:39:40 (boat engine roaring)
00:39:43 A large vacuum is used to suck the salmon
00:39:59 onto a conveyor belt where they are sorted by species.
00:40:02 There are five species of salmon in Alaska
00:40:06 and each species has a nickname.
00:40:09 The Chinook salmon is also known as the king,
00:40:12 the coho as a silver, the sockeye as a red,
00:40:15 the chum as a dog, and the pink as a hump.
00:40:19 It may sound confusing,
00:40:21 but each species fetches a different price.
00:40:24 So fishermen quickly learn to spot the differences.
00:40:27 The salmon are weighed and deposited
00:40:31 into the refrigerated belly of the boat.
00:40:33 (dramatic music)
00:40:37 - So we had 36 dogs.
00:40:39 (dramatic music)
00:40:42 - After collecting salmon from the sanders
00:40:52 on the fishing ground,
00:40:53 the packers will immediately head for a processing plant.
00:40:56 The fishermen, anticipating word
00:40:59 on where they'll next be allowed to fish,
00:41:01 anchor up and blow off some steam.
00:41:05 - Get the dog, get the balls, get your can, whatever.
00:41:10 Get that camera off before I go drowning.
00:41:13 - Go ahead and block.
00:41:14 - Oh, you're too close.
00:41:16 It's actually not that cold.
00:41:20 (water splashing)
00:41:28 (dramatic music)
00:41:34 (dramatic music)
00:41:37 - Farmed salmon, they're lacking in flavor,
00:41:55 they're lacking in juices, they're fed with this grain
00:41:58 that's, I don't know what the hell it is, but it sucks.
00:42:01 - They're pinned in this very tight area
00:42:03 and they're susceptible to disease.
00:42:05 It lays around and it doesn't swim much,
00:42:07 its muscles go slack.
00:42:09 - If you go into like one of the tourist shops
00:42:11 and you buy one of those rubber fish,
00:42:13 those rubber salmon, they kind of look like that.
00:42:15 It just looks, they're kind of molded out of something.
00:42:17 - Growth hormones are a problem and they're a health hazard.
00:42:21 - It's not a very good product.
00:42:23 - It's full of disease, it's shot full of dye.
00:42:25 - Chock full of PCBs and terrible chemicals.
00:42:30 I wouldn't eat a farmed fish.
00:42:31 - It is not a healthy beast.
00:42:33 - And they taste like crap.
00:42:35 - Yeah, don't eat farmed fish more than once a week.
00:42:37 - Disease.
00:42:37 - Disease.
00:42:38 - Diseases.
00:42:39 - Disease.
00:42:40 - Antibiotic.
00:42:41 - Antibiotics.
00:42:42 - Antibiotics.
00:42:43 - Pesticides too.
00:42:43 - It doesn't even taste that good either.
00:42:46 - It's just bland.
00:42:47 - Their flesh is a lot softer.
00:42:49 - A mushy noodle versus one that's prepared right.
00:42:52 - Their meat's all gray.
00:42:54 - The flesh is colorless.
00:42:56 - They inject a full of dyes.
00:42:58 - And they're fatty.
00:42:59 - It's the worst tasting thing on earth.
00:43:01 - We'll take the Pepsi challenge any day of the week.
00:43:04 - They're making people sick who eat them.
00:43:06 - Salmon farms have popped up along inlets and coves
00:43:19 along the entire coast of British Columbia.
00:43:22 They now share space and pristine areas
00:43:26 with diverse and thriving wildlife.
00:43:31 Many of them surround Vancouver Island,
00:43:33 which supplies the US and Asian markets
00:43:36 with 2.5 million kilograms of dressed farm salmon every week.
00:43:40 I ventured to Tofino, BC near Clackalot Sound,
00:43:45 a beautiful area with dazzling coasts, sandy beaches,
00:43:49 old growth forests, abundant wildlife, and 24 fish farms.
00:43:53 I alerted farmers of my planned trip
00:43:56 and hoped to obtain some interviews,
00:43:58 but they said that no one would be available.
00:44:00 When I contacted the Friends of Clackalot Sound,
00:44:04 an environmental group opposed to fish farms,
00:44:06 I was offered a place to stay and a free tour of the sound.
00:44:09 The Friends had planned to dive near a fish farm
00:44:13 to capture footage of the effects of the farm
00:44:15 on the seabed floor.
00:44:17 The farmers were not happy,
00:44:19 and I was right there to capture it all.
00:44:21 (upbeat music)
00:44:25 (people chattering)
00:44:28 (upbeat music)
00:44:30 (people chattering)
00:44:33 (upbeat music)
00:44:36 (people chattering)
00:44:43 (people chattering)
00:44:58 (people chattering)
00:45:01 - Yes.
00:45:10 - Right.
00:45:11 - Hearing you spoke to the Farney and Ray.
00:45:13 Farney and Ray don't have the ultimate authority
00:45:15 over what happens within the Chief's territory.
00:45:18 We have that authority to make that decision,
00:45:21 and whether they're not giving you permission to do this,
00:45:24 it's well and done.
00:45:27 As of now, you have no permission to do that
00:45:30 in my territory.
00:45:31 This is the territory that I hold until such time
00:45:35 I pass this on to somebody else here.
00:45:37 - Okay, thank you.
00:45:40 Well, we're gonna go anchor up,
00:45:41 and I will call Moses as soon as we anchor up.
00:45:44 - And we're gonna be there with you guys.
00:45:45 - Okay, that's fine.
00:45:47 - What's your name?
00:45:48 (boat engine roaring)
00:45:52 (water splashing)
00:45:54 - The seas have been overfished.
00:46:04 Scientists predict that major seafood stocks
00:46:08 will completely collapse by 2048.
00:46:11 Up to 90% of the ocean's major predator stocks
00:46:16 have already been wiped out.
00:46:19 Farming carnivores like salmon are making matters worse.
00:46:23 It requires the capture of wild fish
00:46:25 to feed the farm-raised salmon.
00:46:27 Many people believe that raising farm salmon
00:46:32 would leave wild salmon stocks free to sustain themselves.
00:46:35 But researchers in Canada have demonstrated
00:46:39 that the sea lice that thrive on salmon farms
00:46:42 are actually decimating wild salmon runs.
00:46:47 Walmart will not sell farm salmon
00:46:50 because it is not a sustainable industry.
00:46:52 Salmon farms are plagued with diseases.
00:46:57 When a disease breaks out in a farm population,
00:47:00 they are quickly rushed to market.
00:47:03 If parasites soften the flesh beyond marketability,
00:47:06 they are canned.
00:47:08 If the decay is beyond canning,
00:47:11 they are left to rot on barges with the maggots.
00:47:17 Despite all of the negative factors
00:47:20 associated with farm salmon,
00:47:22 90% of the salmon sold in the United States today
00:47:26 is farm-raised.
00:47:27 Seals and sea lions are also attracted to the farm salmon.
00:47:33 Over 5,000 seals and sea lions have been slaughtered.
00:47:37 The tide of public opinion is turning against farm salmon.
00:47:42 Guarding against negative press,
00:47:43 salmon farmers patrol surrounding areas
00:47:46 to keep people away.
00:47:47 - We're now inside our tenure.
00:47:50 - You keep telling us at our table
00:47:54 when we see a crash from the French and French Guitars,
00:47:56 you don't much, you respect the chief's decisions.
00:47:59 And the decision that I'm making right now
00:48:02 is asking you guys not to proceed
00:48:03 with what you're doing here.
00:48:05 - We have tried very hard for years
00:48:07 to protect this region with all respect to First Nations.
00:48:11 Lots of times we don't agree on some particulars,
00:48:13 but it's not because we don't respect First Nations.
00:48:16 And until there's a legal land claims,
00:48:18 which hasn't happened,
00:48:19 with all respect, whether Clio Quit likes
00:48:23 or doesn't like the dive, the dive can happen.
00:48:26 You can call the cops, we've called the cops,
00:48:28 Spencer's called the cops.
00:48:29 We are on notice that it's dangerous,
00:48:31 we accept that it's dangerous,
00:48:32 and we're just gonna do it.
00:48:34 - They spent thousands and thousands of dollars
00:48:38 on PFNs and twists for them to do studies
00:48:41 that they didn't have to do.
00:48:43 - How many of you, how many?
00:48:45 And all we wanna do is to show people what's down there.
00:48:49 We wanna go take video, take some photos,
00:48:51 and show people and say, this is what we're talking about.
00:48:53 So that when we sit down, we know what we're talking about.
00:48:56 I mean, have you been under there?
00:48:57 Like, do you know what it looks like?
00:48:58 - Are you curious what it looks like?
00:49:00 - It's just information that we wanna give people
00:49:02 to show people what is beyond the site, right?
00:49:06 Beyond our site right now.
00:49:07 We don't know what it looks like.
00:49:08 - Why on a Sunday?
00:49:09 - Why not on a Sunday?
00:49:11 - That's the time I'm not working,
00:49:13 so in the morning I try to.
00:49:14 (machine beeping)
00:49:17 - According to the friends at Klakowis Sound,
00:49:31 there are five fundamental flaws to farm salmon.
00:49:35 Number one is waste.
00:49:39 Salmon farms containing 500,000 to 700,000 fish apiece
00:49:44 can discharge untreated feces
00:49:46 equivalent to a town of 20,000 people.
00:49:49 With 138 fish farms in British Columbia,
00:49:52 that's equivalent to 2.8 million people
00:49:55 discharging waste straight into the ocean.
00:49:57 In addition to feces, farms discharge contaminated feed,
00:50:02 toxic chemicals, and artificial colorings.
00:50:05 - What is that stuff?
00:50:08 - It's the only industrial farm really in Canada
00:50:12 that's permitted to not treat their waste.
00:50:15 The waste of the animals just goes into the ocean.
00:50:17 People really don't have a good sense
00:50:21 of what happens after that.
00:50:23 - So this is from the seabed floor.
00:50:25 So because you've got such high densities of fish,
00:50:28 they're being fed tons and tons of feed a day,
00:50:30 and that feed goes to the bottom of the sea,
00:50:33 and you've also got the fish feces
00:50:34 from the thousands of salmon on the farm.
00:50:36 So the bed turns into marine desert.
00:50:40 You've got anoxic sediments, you've got lack of oxygen,
00:50:43 and you've got this horrible black sediment,
00:50:46 which stinks, it's polluted.
00:50:49 This is symptomatic of a polluted environment.
00:50:51 So this is why we're trying to dive onto the farms
00:50:54 to see the impact for ourselves,
00:50:57 the impact on the marine life.
00:50:58 But really, under a salmon farm and around a salmon farm,
00:51:01 it's like a dead zone.
00:51:05 - Number two, disease and parasites.
00:51:08 Disease is the greatest threat to farmers
00:51:11 and has wiped out entire farm populations.
00:51:14 The Kidoa parasite costs BC farms 30 to 40 million a year.
00:51:19 It actually liquefies the flesh of farm salmon.
00:51:22 And the sea lice from these farms
00:51:26 are decimating wild salmon populations.
00:51:31 - So for me to see the sea lice was a big one.
00:51:34 This didn't really hit home, it all seemed,
00:51:38 okay, somebody says this, a little hearsay there,
00:51:40 a little hearsay there.
00:51:42 Oh, there's a scientific report, sure.
00:51:45 But it wasn't until I was out in the inlet last year
00:51:49 around the Broughton,
00:51:50 and the researchers were scooping in
00:51:54 like hundreds and hundreds of these little baby fish,
00:51:56 and every single fish was covered in lice,
00:51:59 like one or two lice on a juvenile fish is fatal,
00:52:02 and these things had like 50 lice,
00:52:05 between 30 and 50 lice,
00:52:07 like it was just way beyond the lethal limits,
00:52:10 and all of them were like this.
00:52:12 And I'd been kind of joking around that day,
00:52:15 like having a good time,
00:52:16 and it was just one of those moments where I just,
00:52:19 it was like I kind of hit a wall,
00:52:21 and it felt like I was in the middle of a horror movie,
00:52:26 you know, like this can't be happening,
00:52:29 'cause it hit me, you know,
00:52:30 that these fish are not gonna make it to sea,
00:52:33 they're definitely not gonna survive to adulthood,
00:52:36 these fish are toast, they're not coming back.
00:52:39 So everything here that's gonna,
00:52:42 that's here because of the salmon,
00:52:43 the whales, the bears, the eagles,
00:52:45 all, everything else, like the millions,
00:52:48 the little things, like, you know,
00:52:51 wild salmon are the lifeblood of the coast,
00:52:52 it's what everything depends on, everything,
00:52:54 the First Nations, the people, the whole ecosystem,
00:52:56 everything depends on it.
00:52:57 Like I can't even imagine,
00:52:58 and, you know, it was just, it was happening, you know,
00:53:02 and up until now I'd been, oh, something might happen,
00:53:05 something might happen, no, like it's happening.
00:53:07 - 99% of the salmon from six rivers vanished.
00:53:16 3.6 million spawning salmon
00:53:20 dropped to 147,000 in a single generation.
00:53:25 (gentle music)
00:53:28 Number three, escapements.
00:53:32 Farmed salmon are predominantly Atlantic salmon,
00:53:35 a foreign species to the Pacific Ocean.
00:53:38 The escaped salmon transfer parasites and disease
00:53:41 to wild salmon and compete for breeding ground.
00:53:44 - The escaped Atlantics are colonizing
00:53:46 basically all our rivers,
00:53:47 there are escaped Atlantics everywhere,
00:53:48 everywhere around here, around Atlio
00:53:50 and around the house of this Atlantic, so the rivers,
00:53:53 and they come in at the wrong time,
00:53:54 they come in later on,
00:53:55 they physically trash up the wild reds,
00:53:58 and also in her wisdom in nature,
00:54:01 the wild fish, when they hit the intro, they stop feeding.
00:54:04 So when they hit the rivers,
00:54:05 they're not actually consuming smolts or Oolekin larvae
00:54:10 or small baby cod fish or whatever.
00:54:12 Whereas now with the farmed escaped Atlantics,
00:54:15 when they're in the rivers,
00:54:17 they're munching away on the wild fish.
00:54:20 - Why do Alaskans care?
00:54:21 Well, because salmon travel.
00:54:23 Escaped farm salmon have been found
00:54:25 as far north as the Bering Sea.
00:54:27 A Chinook salmon tagged in the central Aleutian Islands
00:54:30 was captured a year later in the Salmon River, Idaho,
00:54:34 3,500 miles away.
00:54:36 Escaped farm Atlantics have been found
00:54:38 attempting to spawn in 80 BC river systems,
00:54:42 including this one caught in the Scott River.
00:54:44 Massive new super farms being built
00:54:49 in Northern British Columbia
00:54:50 are within just 30 miles of Alaska.
00:54:53 Number four, toxins and chemicals.
00:54:59 Antiparasitics, antiphalants, antibiotics,
00:55:03 and artificial colorings are all used in farmed salmon.
00:55:06 In January, 2004, in an article in Science Magazine,
00:55:11 a study was presented that found that farmed salmon
00:55:13 was contaminated with 14 cancer-causing chemicals.
00:55:19 - You've got a whole range of ways
00:55:21 chemicals are used on farms.
00:55:22 There's disinfectants, there's antibiotics.
00:55:25 Here in Clackamasham, Creative Salmon
00:55:27 used a quarter of ton of oxytetracycline.
00:55:30 That's an antibiotic that humans take as well.
00:55:33 There's also sea lice chemicals.
00:55:36 Because you've got parasite infestation on salmon farms,
00:55:39 because they're crammed at such high densities,
00:55:42 salmon farmers, just like cattle farmers
00:55:44 and sheep farmers and pig farmers,
00:55:46 they use chemicals to get rid of these parasites.
00:55:49 And there's also artificial colorings,
00:55:51 and they go in via the feed.
00:55:52 So some of the chemicals are actually used in the feed,
00:55:57 and sometimes the farmed salmon
00:55:59 are bathed in chemicals as well.
00:56:01 And then there's injectable vaccines
00:56:04 which are injected into the flesh of the salmon.
00:56:06 So this is not a natural product.
00:56:08 - Number five, sustainability.
00:56:15 This is what some call the fatal flaw of farmed salmon.
00:56:19 - Globally we have a net loss of protein.
00:56:23 Salmon are carnivores.
00:56:25 We have to feed them fish meal, fish oil.
00:56:28 I think the industry is somewhere around
00:56:29 three kilograms of input to get one kilogram
00:56:32 of basically farmed salmon.
00:56:34 - So producing farmed fish causes a net loss
00:56:38 to the world's food supply.
00:56:39 It is not producing food.
00:56:40 It is reducing the food supply.
00:56:43 (upbeat music)
00:56:45 - After diving, the friends of Klakowit Sound
00:56:48 toured other farms in the Sound,
00:56:50 and their new friends followed them around.
00:56:52 They were going to observe
00:56:55 the scheduled harvesting of farmed salmon,
00:56:57 but the collection boat was sent home
00:57:00 and processors sat idle
00:57:02 just because they were there with a camera.
00:57:04 Farmers called the cops,
00:57:08 who verified that everything the friends had done
00:57:11 was within the law.
00:57:13 But the friends returned home
00:57:14 to find that they had again been vandalized.
00:57:17 Day four.
00:57:27 Back in Alaska, the Viking maid anchors up for the night
00:57:29 after a long day of fishing.
00:57:31 The guys jumped into the skiff to find cell phone range.
00:57:37 And on the way out, they saw some whales.
00:57:42 (upbeat music)
00:57:45 (upbeat music)
00:58:14 The strict laws mandate that mariners must stay
00:58:16 at least 100 yards away from whales,
00:58:19 and that people must not stay in the same vicinity
00:58:22 for more than 30 minutes.
00:58:23 The Viking maid had spent the entire day
00:58:28 participating in a cost recovery.
00:58:30 They received no money for the day's work.
00:58:32 All the money for the fish went to support the hatchery.
00:58:36 Fishermen support hatcheries run by non-profits
00:58:40 under state approval
00:58:41 because they supplement salmon available to fishermen,
00:58:44 while also taking pressure off the wild stocks.
00:58:47 On the way back to the cove,
00:59:03 the whales moved in closer to check out the skiff.
00:59:06 (upbeat music)
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00:59:13 (upbeat music)
00:59:15 (upbeat music)
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00:59:36 (upbeat music)
00:59:46 (upbeat music)
00:59:49 (gentle music)
01:00:02 Day five is a non-fishing day
01:00:06 as dictated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
01:00:09 The Viking maid and others travel further north
01:00:12 to areas that will be open to fishing the next day.
01:00:15 Because of distances traveled,
01:00:17 fishermen are many times forced to stay
01:00:19 on the fishing grounds between openings.
01:00:22 A lot of this time is spent figuring out where to fish next,
01:00:27 but the fishermen also get a chance to kick back
01:00:30 and soak up all the beauty that surrounds them
01:00:32 in Southeast Alaska.
01:00:33 Conservation of all natural resources
01:00:38 is written in the constitution of the state of Alaska.
01:00:41 It is the only state in the union
01:00:44 with a constitutional mandate for preservation of fish
01:00:47 and wildlife resources, and the state has done very well.
01:00:50 Alaska's is the only wild salmon fisheries program
01:00:55 in the world to be certified
01:00:57 by the Marine Stewardship Council
01:00:59 as well-managed and sustainable.
01:01:01 Since farm salmon are not considered sustainable
01:01:06 and threaten wild salmon,
01:01:08 Alaskans adopted legislation in 1990
01:01:11 that banned the practice in the state.
01:01:14 Historically, the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game
01:01:18 has done a phenomenal job
01:01:20 managing the more than 15,000 streams in Alaska
01:01:23 while still enabling for strong industry.
01:01:25 In the late '80s, Alaskan salmon dominated the U.S. market
01:01:31 and had captured over 90% of the Japanese market.
01:01:35 But then farm salmon hit the world stage
01:01:37 and went from producing a mere 1% of the world's supply
01:01:40 of salmon to more than 60% in 2002.
01:01:44 Farm salmon from Chile have now captured 70%
01:01:48 of the Japanese market,
01:01:50 and 90% of all salmon produced in British Columbia
01:01:53 are shipped directly to the United States.
01:01:56 - Farm fish has dramatically dropped the price
01:02:00 of my canned salmon from when I was getting a dollar a pound
01:02:04 down to eight, nine cents a pound.
01:02:07 So the impact of farm fish
01:02:10 has really destructed my livelihood.
01:02:14 - Pink salmon prices fell from record highs in 1988
01:02:17 of a dollar 20 a pound
01:02:19 to record lows of nine cents a pound in 2002.
01:02:23 - 1987, we had 197,000 pounds of fish
01:02:30 for $189,000.
01:02:36 Last year, we caught over two million pounds
01:02:41 for a total gross stock before expenses
01:02:47 or any of this stuff for about $200,000.
01:02:52 That's two million pounds.
01:02:55 - As operating costs continued to rise
01:03:01 and real prices continued to fall,
01:03:04 37% of fishermen were forced to quit the business.
01:03:08 Wards Cove Cannery in Ketchikan, Alaska
01:03:13 closed in the winter of 2002.
01:03:15 - My story is kind of a,
01:03:20 it's not really too different than a lot of guys,
01:03:22 but I had my own boat for years
01:03:25 and I got a family of boys.
01:03:27 I've got six boys and one daughter,
01:03:30 and I had a dream to, you know,
01:03:32 one day take all my kids fishing on the boat.
01:03:36 And because of what's happened economically
01:03:38 from the farm salmon,
01:03:44 I call it the farm salmon fallout,
01:03:46 ended up having to sell my boat,
01:03:50 having to sell my house.
01:03:51 So, you know, in a sense,
01:04:00 your dreams kind of go up in smoke.
01:04:04 - The Alaskan salmon industry has taken a hit
01:04:06 from the emergence of farm salmon across the globe.
01:04:09 Many have been forced to quit the business
01:04:13 and those that remain must catch more fish than ever before.
01:04:17 - And so a lot of folks lost their jobs,
01:04:24 and so the rest of us have had the opportunity
01:04:28 to catch more fish maybe,
01:04:30 but at these prices,
01:04:33 we certainly haven't made any more money,
01:04:35 but we've had to work a little harder.
01:04:37 - Back to the Viking Maid,
01:04:48 which had traveled north from Hidden Falls
01:04:50 and had anchored up next to a potential fishing point
01:04:53 just south of Basket Bay.
01:04:56 The day is spent doing routine maintenance,
01:04:59 checking the net, looking for jumps,
01:05:01 and checking in with other fishermen.
01:05:03 - I'm all for trying to make the company make a go of it,
01:05:16 but if we can't survive, what's the point?
01:05:18 You know, what's the point?
01:05:26 You can load your boat and it's not that much money.
01:05:28 You know, that's the sad thing about it, is no money.
01:05:33 - The thinking early on was,
01:05:37 there's no way we can generate the kind of money
01:05:39 it's gonna take to mount a media campaign
01:05:42 to beat up on these guys.
01:05:44 If the Alaska salmon industry had something bad to say
01:05:49 about beef, for instance,
01:05:51 we could be crushed overnight in, you know,
01:05:54 one Super Bowl ad or something.
01:05:57 And we're not gonna pick any fights with somebody
01:05:59 that's got a bigger bank account than we do.
01:06:02 - The farm salmon industry has a savvy
01:06:05 and effective media marketing and advertising campaign.
01:06:09 But Alaskan fishermen have seen a lot of factual reporting
01:06:13 about farm salmon in the media.
01:06:15 Like Brad Haynes, Russell's nephew,
01:06:19 owner and captain of the Yankee.
01:06:22 - You know, the media is what has helped us all out.
01:06:25 You know, just hands down, the media has put the scare
01:06:28 in the general consumer about, you know, the dyes
01:06:32 and the toxins that go into the farm salmon.
01:06:35 So, you know, nature's just taking its own course.
01:06:39 - Actually, farm salmon suffered kind of its own meltdown.
01:06:45 Quality conscious consumer has said,
01:06:49 "Hey, not only is this fish got some problems with it,
01:06:52 "it doesn't even taste that good either."
01:06:55 Side-by-side taste test with a wild salmon
01:06:57 is a hands down winner for Alaska salmon every time.
01:07:04 - And it's coming back a little bit now, you know,
01:07:06 but there's no leaps and bounds.
01:07:08 The cost of doing business is huge compared to the increase
01:07:13 in what we're getting in salmon.
01:07:15 I'm not gonna get millions of dollars out of this.
01:07:19 I'm gonna get a nice family wage, hopefully,
01:07:22 hopefully, and be able to continue to do it.
01:07:25 I mean, that's what I bought into it for.
01:07:27 - It is our last day of fishing on board Viking Maine.
01:07:34 - Mike, how are you today?
01:07:40 - Good.
01:07:41 - You good?
01:07:42 - Looks really good.
01:07:44 (upbeat music)
01:07:47 (indistinct)
01:07:49 - Ah, it's a toge, he blew a bowser.
01:08:00 Bowser, look at him go.
01:08:03 (dog barking)
01:08:04 - It's good to be alive.
01:08:14 - Just gonna breath line it, it's gonna be pretty heavy.
01:08:19 - That's about 3000 pounds to start off the day.
01:08:33 With the net back in the water,
01:08:36 Jared has time to make a favorite snack using canned salmon.
01:08:40 (upbeat music)
01:08:43 - This is the best part.
01:08:44 - Did you really drink that?
01:08:45 - Yeah, it's good.
01:08:47 Just like salmon oil.
01:08:50 - Serving for the world.
01:08:54 - Oh, red salmon and salt.
01:09:00 The water cause them to shut down.
01:09:03 - Why is that what we used to work?
01:09:07 - 25 years and they shut down on us.
01:09:10 - It's a market.
01:09:11 - This is where I lived off in college right here,
01:09:20 this is Caucasian.
01:09:21 Caucasian.
01:09:22 - Fishermen eat salmon all the time.
01:09:27 And the amazing thing is,
01:09:28 they never seem to get enough of it.
01:09:31 - We eat a lot of salmon.
01:09:33 Sure, I mean, it's fantastic food.
01:09:36 It's the best food there is.
01:09:37 And it's here every day.
01:09:41 - I eat salmon or seafood at least six days a week.
01:09:46 And sometimes five days a week, I'll have it twice a day.
01:09:49 - There's all kinds of ways you can add spices
01:09:52 and compliment the salmon flavor.
01:09:54 But I guess I like it straight up almost.
01:09:58 You can make salmon fettuccine, salmon casserole,
01:10:02 or salmon spread is one of our favorites.
01:10:04 Just blending in different ways.
01:10:06 - We grill it, we bake it.
01:10:08 - Put mayonnaise and cheese on it.
01:10:10 - Smoked salmon, dried salmon.
01:10:11 - Baked, broiled, sauteed.
01:10:14 - We make ceviche out of it.
01:10:15 - Cured lightly and dried.
01:10:17 - Smoke it, pan it.
01:10:18 - Poaching it's good.
01:10:19 - The barbecue.
01:10:20 - We eat salmon raw.
01:10:21 Don't ever try to eat it the same way twice.
01:10:23 - You can even microwave it.
01:10:24 Any way you cook salmon is a good way to cook it,
01:10:27 as long as it's wild salmon.
01:10:28 Can't go wrong, you know?
01:10:30 Don't overcook it, you're fine.
01:10:33 - The leftovers are the best part for me.
01:10:36 The salmon spread is definitely where it's at.
01:10:38 You treat it like tuna fish.
01:10:41 You do the same thing with it as you would tuna fish,
01:10:46 but it's so much better.
01:10:48 It tastes so much better than tuna fish does.
01:10:50 There's just no competing with mother nature
01:10:53 when it comes to quality food.
01:10:56 - The fish that we're producing today, fleet wide,
01:10:59 is the finest quality fish that's ever been produced.
01:11:04 It's an excellent product.
01:11:05 And as far as farm compared to wild, you don't compare.
01:11:10 If you think that farm fish is similar, it's not.
01:11:16 I mean, I know fish.
01:11:19 - Fresh salmon, freshly prepared,
01:11:21 it's got a super wonderful flavor
01:11:24 and it just feels richer.
01:11:27 It's much nicer than farm salmon.
01:11:30 (machine whirring)
01:11:35 (water splashing)
01:11:38 - It's a lot of folks look at Alaska as a big park.
01:11:45 Well, it's a beautiful place,
01:11:48 but with our technology, we can do industry
01:11:53 and different things with the natural resources
01:11:57 and do them right.
01:11:58 I mean, that's why they were put here, I believe.
01:12:00 Natural resources, God put trees here.
01:12:03 He put minerals here.
01:12:04 He put fish here for human beings to utilize.
01:12:09 And with our technology, we can utilize these things
01:12:12 and still not mess up the environment.
01:12:15 It's a proven fact, we can do it.
01:12:17 You know, humans are pretty smart, so.
01:12:20 - It's not about the money.
01:12:25 It's about being out here and doing a job.
01:12:27 And there's a lot of jobs you can do,
01:12:29 but to be out here and to do what we do every day,
01:12:34 there's not really anything quite like it.
01:12:38 You're not just out here working nine to five in some office.
01:12:43 Yeah, okay, it's rough and everything,
01:12:47 and there's the upsides and downsides.
01:12:49 At the end of the day, you're working hard,
01:12:52 you're feeding people,
01:12:53 you are seeing beautiful things every day.
01:12:59 Every day is something that you just say,
01:13:03 "Wow, I've never seen that before."
01:13:05 - Really long stream coming up.
01:13:09 - Pretty exciting, the other view.
01:13:17 You've accomplished what you've set out to do.
01:13:21 You've harnessed the tide, the currents,
01:13:23 and you beat mother nature,
01:13:25 taking a few fish away from her.
01:13:27 So that's pretty exciting.
01:13:28 And it's, well, it keeps you on your toes
01:13:31 trying to do the best.
01:13:34 - I don't think I could ever leave Alaska.
01:13:43 It's the wide open spaces, you get used to that.
01:13:49 The hunting, the fishing,
01:13:51 whether it's sport fishing or commercial fishing,
01:13:54 it's truly a great place.
01:13:56 I don't think I could ever leave.
01:13:58 - See you right there.
01:14:00 - I've visited quite a few different places
01:14:05 and I haven't found any place on earth
01:14:09 that I'd rather live other than Alaska.
01:14:12 - Alaska's an excellent place to grow up
01:14:19 and to raise children.
01:14:20 I really enjoy Alaska.
01:14:22 I'm glad I grew up here.
01:14:23 - And I wouldn't trade it for the world.
01:14:28 I really wouldn't.
01:14:28 - I love to fish.
01:14:31 I'd do it for nothing.
01:14:32 No, I take that back.
01:14:34 I'd do it for, you know,
01:14:36 I've done it for less, let's say that.
01:14:39 - Margarita time.
01:14:56 - Looking at the rest of, you know,
01:14:59 I've been to Mexico and I've been on the East Coast of US
01:15:03 and a lot of other places around,
01:15:07 we're pretty spoiled up here.
01:15:09 I mean, we are real spoiled,
01:15:12 but I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
01:15:15 I mean, it's just, where else can you do this?
01:15:18 I mean, what a view, you know, a room with a view.
01:15:22 It's, but you have to like the out of doors, you know,
01:15:27 it's an adventure just being alive.
01:15:29 It's, you really have to like the out of doors.
01:15:33 Fish jumping right here, going south,
01:15:35 but it's, it's home.
01:15:39 - I think it's a good place to grow up.
01:15:46 I mean, it's beautiful.
01:15:47 You don't have to deal with the city too much.
01:15:49 I mean, Ketchikan is kind of turning into a,
01:15:53 whatever, city, more city than outdoorsy place,
01:15:57 but you can still go hike the trails
01:15:59 and see the mountains and the ocean.
01:16:02 That's the thing I needed the most is the ocean.
01:16:05 I can't live where there's no ocean around, so.
01:16:21 - Just keep, keep reading them health books
01:16:23 and keep watching the health TV show
01:16:25 and just believe what they say about the wild salmon
01:16:28 and how great it is for you.
01:16:29 Keep me, keep me in with the job.
01:16:32 - Eat fish, eat fish.
01:16:38 There's real people out here catching them and they're good.
01:16:41 And there's lots of them.
01:16:42 So whenever you eat a wild fish from the state of Alaska,
01:16:47 don't be afraid you're eating an endangered species
01:16:50 because that's far from the truth, far from the truth.
01:16:54 Come on up and see.
01:16:56 I'll take you for a ride.
01:16:57 We'll show you some fish.
01:16:58 - That's the end of our trip on board the Viking Maid.
01:17:12 Russell and the crew will head down to Petersburg
01:17:15 to offload salmon and then head back down to Ketchikan
01:17:19 for another opening.
01:17:21 (dramatic music)
01:17:22 For them, the season has just begun
01:17:25 and they're hoping for many, many more to come.
01:17:29 But that won't happen unless everyone out there
01:17:33 starts eating some wild Alaskan salmon.
01:17:36 So on behalf of all the fishing vessels
01:17:39 and all of the fishermen involved
01:17:41 in the Alaskan salmon industry,
01:17:43 to protect the only sustainable salmon fishery in the world,
01:17:48 which is also constitutionally state mandated
01:17:51 to protect salmon, to protect the environment,
01:17:54 and to protect your own health
01:17:56 against the encroachment of farmed salmon,
01:17:59 be sure to eat only wild Alaskan salmon.
01:18:03 And keep in mind a favorite Alaskan slogan,
01:18:06 friends don't let friends eat farmed fish.
01:18:10 Thanks for watching.
01:18:14 I hope you enjoyed the show.
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