Author Archives: Mark Muha
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Unless you’re reading this from somewhere in Alaska, the first, and in many ways, biggest step to finding a job in the commercial fishing industry is getting to Alaska. The actual event of getting there is simple; buy a plane ticket, and get on the plane. But four hours later you’ll be standing in the Anchorage airport wondering what to do next.
If there is one question that I get asked when people find out that I work on a fishing boat in Alaska, it’s “how do I get that job?!”
To many people, it seems elusive and impossible. Alaska feels much farther than a 3.5 hour flight from the Lower 48.
August 13th. We fished until 4pm, before finally admitting that the wind was getting the better of us. The forecast was calling for 40 MPH winds, and I’d been anxiously anticipating it. I could use a day off to just sit and sleep. I knew we should have finished at 2 pm, but there was [...]
It’s 4am. I’m curled up in my bunk, but despite being asleep I’m consciously aware of the pain that courses through my body. It keeps me in a half-sleep stage, where every move, every roll onto my side, jolts me awake momentarily from the throbbing discomfort that races up from my hands into my forearms. [...]
Prior to my Alaskan adventure, I had not spent any considerable amount of time near the ocean, let alone on it, but the quote that I stole from Eugene O’Neill for the title of this post made me slightly apprehensive going into the summer. I had seen the Pacific ocean for the first time just [...]
The fishing season begins when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), who are responsible for the management of the fishing season, have established “openings” for the fishermen to begin. All salmon return to spawn in the river that they were born in, so after spending their adult life in the ocean, they return [...]
Within the fishing community, an incredible amount of diversity exists in boats, captains, and crews. Take a walk along the docks in Homer and you’ll see boats ranging in size, color, and shape. Some of them are so beautiful it seems a shame to use them for dirty fishing work, while others appear unable to [...]
What do you do with free time when you’re in a fishing village in the remote bush of Alaska? Well, when it’s in Chignik prior to the fishing season, the options are limited, but great! The fishing season didn’t begin until June 16th, so for the 2 weeks leading up to it we spent a [...]
I arrived in Chignik less than 2 hours before I became friends with the mayor. I had just settled onto a bench in the galley of the Kimberly, the boat I was staying on for the next few days and dozed off… when I woke up to the sound of voices and someone standing over [...]
The ferry ride from Homer had been a long one, almost 37 hours. From the deck of the ferry, the shoreline was barely visible through the heavy fog and mist, so I was glad to know the ride was almost over for me. The captain had announced that we were arriving at Chignik within the [...]
