FishFate: fishing

Saturday, January 5, 2008

What is a skiff man anyway??

The skiffman has responsibility for the skiff, keeping the fuel tank supplied, maintaining the engine, and driving it around as needed. The skiff is attached to one end of the net when the crew is setting the net. The skiffman is responsible for placement of the net. After the set the skiff and main boat loop. The skiffman hands his end of the net to one of the deck hands. He then swings around the boat and under the net where the other deck hands tosses him a tow line. The skiff man then becomes responsible for the placement of the boat. It is important to keep the net and boat centered. If the tides push the net around the bow then there is a chance of the corks sinking and fish escaping. If there is another boat setting near the boat the skiff man needs to keep his boat and net away from that set. The skipper may signal the skiffman aboard if help is needed to either pull up the bag of fish or "brail" the fish into the fish hole. Brailing is when a large basket is dipped into the pocket of the net and then hauled aboard. This method of getting the fish on board is still used in some parts of Alaska, however, most boats now bring their fish on board by "taking bites".

What is Purse Seining??

Purse seiners catch salmon (primarily pink salmon) by encircling them with a long net and drawing (pursing) the bottom closed to capture the fish.

The net is first stacked on the stern of the boat and then payed into the water while the boat travels in a large circle around the fish.

The far end of the net is attached to a “power skiff,” which helps the operation by holding the net while the seiner completes the circle. The top of the net stays on the surface of the water because of its “float line” that runs through thousands of colorful floats, and the bottom of the net falls vertically because of its weighted “lead line.”

As a result, the net hangs like a curtain around the school of fish. The vessel crew then purses its bottom with a “purse line.” The lines, and thus the net, are retrieved through a hydraulic power block (winch). Once most of the net has been retrieved, with the remainder of it lying in a “bag” alongside the vessel, the fish are dipped from the bag and into the vessel’s hold.

Shipwreck 2:40 a.m., August 20, 2003

In the end of our fishing season in the year 2003, my 58' wood seiner drug anchor and wash washed up onto the beach with all of the crew. A large storm had come up during the night and our anchor could no longer hold. We drifted onto the beach and into some serious surf. I took quite a beating but after being half-drowned, electrocuted, and almost knocked unconscious I did make it off the boat alive. My dad and I both took quite a beating and if not for the other two crew members I may not have been here to tell this story. We were lucky to have shipwrecked near a very small fishing village on Kodiak Island, we had to walk a few miles across and dark, rainy, and very rocky bay to get to the village. To make matters worse I had lost my boots and my sweatpants, leaving me only a pair of shorts and a sweater to keep me warm. We were able to find a cabin and a local tour guide and his wife let us in and radio the Cost Guard. Below is the Division of Spill Prevention and Response report from our shipwreck. The boat was complete destroyed in the next two weeks and only broken pieces of wood now remain on the beach.

Location: Tanglefoot Bay, Karluk, on Kodiak Island

Product/Quantity : The vessel owner reported 1000 gallons of diesel was on board the vessel at the time of the grounding. Further gauging of fuel tanks on August 22nd found no fuel in the tanks.

Cause : F/V Donna Ann, a 58’ wooden hulled vessel, drifted aground on a gravel and sand beach after dragging anchor in Tanglewood Bay at 2:40 a.m. on August 20.

Time/Date of Spill :U.S. Coast Guard reported to DEC that the vessel grounded at 2:40 a.m., August 20, 2003.