I’ll try to keep this one short and simple since I know most of my readers are foreign to the Commercial Herring Sac Roe fisheries.

Say what? Yep that’s right, roe are eggs, and we are in the market for the eggs here folks. Not just any eggs though. These eggs are such a delicacy that the buyers (primarily the Japanese) will fly out their own special ‘Roe Technicians’ to get a sample and make sure these little buggers are top notch quality, meaning the Roe must be ripe and ready to spawn. Come Spring time, millions of Pacific Herring will swim down from the Bering Sea to spawn in the more Shallow waters of Southeast Alaska, where the fisherman are now waiting, ready to pounce. By this time their bellies are filled with plump egg sacs ready for harvest. There is just nothing like a delicious fish egg feast to go with your rice. Sounds appetizing right? For the Japanese, they devour this stuff like candy. I say, yuck!

The Seine being worked on

Fishermen use boats called ‘seiners’. It is called a seiner because they use a seine (type of net) to catch fish. Every boat has a pilot and spotter in the air, flying overhead searching for fish and communicating with the skippers below. With a plane designated to one or several boats, and 50 boats total, you can imagine how dangerous it can be for all these guys in the air. It’s high risk on every level. In fact my grandfather died when he collided with another plane.

The fish are caught in very large quantities at a very fast pace. This means there are tenders (large holding boats for the fish) standing by ready to pump the fish out of the net. Often the weight of the fish in these nets can compare to a few fully loaded 747’s or several Blue whales in your net. It’s a hefty amount to say the least. From what I hear, our net is the biggest in Sitka, making for a very heavy load of webbing to fit on the deck and hopefully a record under our belt this season, wink wink. The record catch for herring was a 1,500 Ton catch in 2009. Stay tuned for what’s in store for the 2010 season.

Being such a premier and highly regulated fishery, it makes for a very difficult one to break into, A, because it’s so expensive, and B, Seniority status. There are only 50 permits total, and you pretty much need to be born into this industry or have at least 30 plus years under your belt. To give you an estimate on what it takes to get this operation in motion, here is a grocery list for those interested.

1. You’ll need 2 seines (net), one for shallow water, and one for deep water. Plan on spending roughly $200,000 on that alone.
2. You’ll need to buy a permit (license to fish) for about $700,000, or negotiate with an already permit holder (people who own the permit but don’t necessarily fish) and bring him aboard in exchange for 50% of your profit made.
3. You’ll need a top quality boat. On average you’re looking at about $800,000. Don’t forget to add another $70,000 for a skiff (small boat that tows the seine).
4. Tack on a well seasoned captain, a  crew, a two-seater plane with a salty pilot and eagle-eyed spotter, a large ripe tender, a dialed in processing plant, a handful of insurance, and bingo, you’re all set to go herring fishing!

In a nutshell this fishery is very complex, competitive, and a high stake caliber operation. It’s only a matter of days now before the 50 most elite of fishermen will go head to head, literally, in what is considered “one of the fastest and most lucrative fish wage earners in the state”. It’s hit or miss, in which case any one of these 50 total permit holders can bank or go bust. For these guys it’s a gamble and that’s the thrill that keeps them on their toes. For me, I guess it’s a risk worth taking.

Today we had a 2 hour notice at noon, which means its make or break time and after 2pm if the gun goes off, you better be ready to fish. It didn’t go off today but after a couple practice sets today we are ready.